


City of Bones

by tella



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Light Dom/sub, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2018-10-17 18:08:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 100,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10599381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tella/pseuds/tella
Summary: He never thought he would get this, not with a submissive of his choice and not with his actual soulmate. Soulmates were rare in both the Shadow and Mundane world, Alec had been one of the few Shadowhunters to be born with a soulmate mark. Unfortunately, the mark had been grey, the colour a mark becomes when a soulmate dies or is dead.For eighteen years, he had worked hard to become the best Shadowhunter, the best solider to try and make his mother proud, to try and take away the look of disappointment that came into his mother’s eyes every time she saw the leather band he wore to hide the grey mark





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this story was supposed to be an established Malec re-write of season one, but it decided to develop a backstory and what was originally a few flashblack scenes decided that they wanted to be their own story and I have taken them out and made them one shots.
> 
> Also, I had written my S1 and most of S2 before SH S2 had started, and I have started to re-write my S2 as I want to include some things that were in SH S2. In S1 I didn’t like Jace or Clary, so I will be keeping my original characterisations of them in my story and S2 did nothing to change my mind about them, if anything it made me dislike her more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Chapter has been updated and betad by magnusbane-daily

 

Alec smiled as he walked into the kitchen to find his family sitting around the kitchen table as they had their dinner. He walked over to the empty seat and sat down beside his sub. He ran his hand over the back of Magnus’ head, avoiding messing up his hair. He traced his hand down the back of Magnus’ neck, until it rested at the base of his neck, his fingers playing with his collar.

“Thanks,” he smiled at Magnus as he placed a plate in front of him. With a quick squeeze to his neck and kiss to his temple he let him go. Picking up a fork, Alec began to poke and prod at the chicken on his plate.

Magnus smirked and leaned in close to him as he whispered, “Don’t worry, Izzy didn’t cook it.”

“Hey!” Izzy snapped at him and playfully hit him with a roll.

Alec smirked and took a couple of bites of chicken. Ignoring the two of them bickering, he turned to his brother and asked, “Are we ready for tonight?”

Jace scoffed, smirking at his parabatai, “Do you even need to ask?”

Alec rolled his eyes at his smug brother and turned to his submissive and asked, “What are your plans for tonight?”

“I have a client that I’m meeting tonight at the loft, and then I thought I would check out Pandemonium.”

Alec nodded as he pushed his empty plate away, and stood up asking, “Finished?” He waited for Magnus to nod before he held out a hand. Pulling him out of his seat, Alec turned to his sibling he said, “I’ll meet you in Ops.” Without waiting for an answer, he turned and lead Magnus out of the kitchen and into their room.

Closing the door, Alec pulled Magnus into his arms. Running his hands up and down his back he said, “You didn’t tell me that you had a client tonight.”

“It slipped my mind,” Magnus said as he pulled back a bit to look Alec in the face. “She’s a regular. I see her about every two years. I didn’t realise it was that time already until she messaged me this afternoon.”

“Okay,” Alec nodded as he brushed a hand through Magnus hair. Alec was not as careful with the style this time, knowing Magnus would change it for his visit at the club. “What time will you be finished at the club?”

“I’m just checking in, so I shouldn’t be there too long.”

“I’ll meet you there after we’ve finished up with tonight’s hunt,” he said as he ran his hands down his back and up his chest to his neck. Gripping his collar, he pulled Magnus into a kiss before backing him up against the bedpost. He pulled back and rested against his forehead as he said, “We haven’t used one of the back rooms in a while. I haven’t had a night to indulge in a while. Would you like that? Just a night for the two of us, no interruptions?”

He smirked as Magnus shivered and purred, “Yes, yes please, Sir.”

“Good, I want that too.” he said as he pulled him into another kiss. His hands traveling to grip his Magnus’ hair and tip his head back. Alec gently nuzzled his cheek and breathed him in, just spending some quiet time with his submissive.

He never thought he would get this, not with a submissive of his choice and not with his actual soulmate. Soulmates were rare in both the Shadow and Mundane world, Alec had been one of the few Shadowhunters to be born with a soulmate mark. Unfortunately, the mark had been grey, the colour a mark becomes when a soulmate dies or is dead.

For nineteen years, he had worked hard to become the best Shadowhunter, the best soldier. All to try and make his mother proud, to try and take away the look of disappointment that came into his mother’s eyes every time she saw the leather band he wore to hide the grey mark. It was just another failure in her eyes. When Jace had joined their family, he had learned what the parabatai bond was. he had become instntly obsessed with the idea and hoped that having a papabatai bond with someone would help ease the pain and how lonely he felt. He had to work hard with Jace, both boys continuously being tested as the parabatai bond was never offered to Shadowhunters that were born with a soulmate mark. But due to his unique situation, both boys wanted the bond and had petitioned the Clave to allow them to get the bond. Alec had also hoped that the bond would lessen the ache of his mother’s constant disappointment. Although the bond did help, he still felt something was missing.

When he had turned ninteen and the parabatai ritual had been completed, his mother had come to him and had informed him that now he was an adult, it was time for him to fulfil his familial duties and find himself a submissive that was worthy of the Lightwood name. He hadn’t cared at the time who she would set him up with, as long as they were a male submissive, or at least a switch that leaned more towards submissive tendencies. He didn’t think anyone would be able to fulfil the aching loss he felt for his dead soulmate.

That all changed.

Seven even months after the parabatai ritual, Alec was training with Jace and Izzy and suddenly felt an intense burning coming from his mark. The burning feeling spread, crawling all over his skin before he eventually passed out. He had woken up in the infirmary with Izzy and Jace hovering over him worriedly. His mark now warm and a bold black colour, and the aching loss gone.

His mother had not been happy when he went to her and told her that he would be calling off the courtship she had set up with a fellow Shadowhunter that she deemed worthy. She was even more enraged when the High Warlock of Brooklyn walked into his life supporting a matching soulmate mark at the base of his neck on his left shoulder. Alec had never felt happier or content, even if it meant another relationship that needed hard work. Both men held important positions on the Clave and the Shadow Council and both had important jobs – he was the Acting Head of the New York Institute and Magnus was the High Warlock.

They also had to try and find a new balance between his soulmate and his parabatai bonds. There was a reason why the parabatai bond was never offered to Shadowhunters that had been born with a mark, nobody knew how it would affect either of the three souls that would be tied together. At first, he had been overwhelmed by the two souls tied to his and he knew that both Jace and Magnus had struggled with the new connections. But after a few weeks both bonds had settled and become stable, with Jace and Magnus only able to feel an echo of what Alec felt.

He pulled back and ran his hands through Magnus’ hair soothingly. He studied him carefully before he asked, “Are you ok to wait until tonight or do you need me?”

“I can wait,” Magnus shivered as he nuzzled into Alec’s hand, “I like the anticipation, it’ll be better.”

“Okay,” Alec smiled as he leaned in and nuzzled his nose into Magnus’ hair and breathed him in.

Magnus pushed him back and stood up on his toes. He brushed a kiss across his lips and chuckled, “You should go. The others are waiting and I can feel Jace getting irritated,” He smirked and pushed Alec lightly, adding, “And if I can feel Jace getting irritated, Angel knows what you must be feeling from him.”

“Yeah, he’s irritated,” Alec huffed a light laugh as he walked over to the coat rack and pulled on his jacket, “Makes a change from him constantly irritating me.”

He smiled as Magnus laughed and he brushed a kiss across his forehead as he told him, “I’ll see you tonight.” Before he quickly left the room.

He heard music coming from his sister’s room. Alec walked down the corridor from their quarters to Izzy’s room, “Isabelle, let’s go.”

Izzy smirked as she swaggered out of her room smoothing the wig she held, “Hey there big brother, you and Magnus all finished?”

“Yeah,” he said with a small content smile before he smirked at what she was wearing, “Really?”

“What can I say,” She smirked up at him, “Demon’s dig blondes.”

“Yeah, but that’s white.” He pointed out as they walked down the stairs to the Ops room.

“Platinum,” She shrugged carelessly before she turned to him and asked, “Are you and Magnus okay?”

He stopped and turned to look at her. He was surprised to see real concern on her face, “We’re good, why?”

“It’s just you haven’t spent much time together lately and I know mother and father…”

“Magnus and I are fine.” He said and as he pulled her into a quick hug, assuring her, “We’re both busy and we hold important positions, don’t worry about mother and father, we can handle them. Beside I plan on joining him in one of the rooms at the club tonight after we’ve finished with the hunt tonight.”

“Good,” she smiled up at him “Jace and I will cover for you if anything comes up.”

“But you will call me if its anything serious.” He insisted.

“Of course,” she smirked as she turned and walked down into the Ops room, ignoring him as he called out to her, “Jace we’re ready.”

“About time,” he grumbled jokingly to Alec before he turned to Izzy and smiled at her, “Nice choice, demons dig blondes.”

“Told you.” She sings, ignoring her brother’s eyeroll.

“Demons are draining mundane’s of their blood,” Jace said as he began to explain tonight's hunt, “Nobody can figure out why?”

“Blood is vampire territory,” Alec said as he and Izzy followed Jace to the weapons room.

“Maybe vampires are getting lazy.” Jace shrugged carelessly.

“Maybe there’s something about their blood.” Izzy suggested.

“It’s mundane blood.” Alec frowned as he picked up his bow and quiver, “What could be so special about it?”

“Get me a sample and I can tell you everything there is to know about their blood.” She smirked.

“We can get all the answers when we figure out who the demons are working for.” Jace said as he handed out Seraph blades to Izzy and Alec.

“You don’t think they're working on their own?” she asked, tucking her blade away.

“Demons aren’t exactly creative thinkers.” Alec snorted, as they walked back over to the screens.

“This is our target.” Jace said as he pointed to the screen, which was showing a photo of an elderly Asian man.

“Okay, I’ll get approval for the mission.” Alec said, even though he knew what his sibling’s response would be.

“Come on, Alec,” Jace snorted as he turned and began to walk towards the entrance, the other two following. “By the time you hear back from the Clave we would have caught and interrogated the demon.”

“Besides it’s more fun to break the rules than to follow them.” Izzy smirked.

Alec just rolled his eyes as he followed them out of the institute.

 

*** ***

 

Magnus sighed as he slumped down onto his couch, looking around the loft. The loft had been his home for over a century but it no longer felt like home. He hadn’t lived in the loft in over four years, not since he had meet Alec, his dominate and his soulmate. If someone had told him thirty years ago, that he would be mated to a Shadowhunter, a Lightwood at that, and freely choosing to live at the Institute, he probably would have died of laughter.

After the defeat of Valentine and the Circle, relationships between Shadowhunters and Downworlders had improved. They had both come together and created a joint council, the Shadow Council, that would govern both races. Magnus himself was a member of the Shadow Council. In the past twenty years, Shadowhunters and Downworlders worked together to better the lives of both races and write new Accords that were both Just and Fair to Downworlders. Of course, there was still some Shadowhunters that believed in the old ways, especially when it came to romantic relationships between Shadowhunters and Downworlders.

When he and Alec had bonded, they had become something of a celebrity couple amongst the Shadow world. Someone that could be trotted out at every clave or Downworlder function and stand as an example to show everyone just how far they had come in Downworlders and Shadowhunter relations.

Magnus was a High Warlock, a position he had held for over a hundred years, and was well connected in both the Shadow and the Down world. He was also one of the most powerful warlocks that had the rare dynamic of submissive. He also had a soulmate mark, which was rare for warlocks as they were immortal. He only knew of one other warlock who had a mark and when they had performed the soul bonding ritual the mundane had become immortal, as well as being able to gain a limited access to the warlock’s magic. He and Alec were bound eternally but Alec had no access to his magic and other than making the parabatai bond a bit stronger it was otherwise unaffected. The Clave had loved the fact that Alexander Lightwood, son of former prominent Circle members Maryse and Robert Lightwood, was the soulmate of none other than the High Warlock, Magnus Bane. It was yet another relationship that they could use to show how united the two races had become.

“She’s late.” He muttered as he looked at his watch and stood up and began to pace. Being the High Warlock meant there were things about his job that he couldn’t tell Alec, but this was one secret that he wished he could tell his dom. Although he trusted Alec completely, there was still a small part of him that distrusted the Clave and thought it was best to keep it between himself and as few people as possible.

He looked at his watch again and frowned as he pulled out his phone. He dialled and muttered, “Come on, Jocelyn. Where are you?”

When he got no answer, he hung up and dialled another number, this time when he got no answer he left a message, “Dot, Jocelyn called me this afternoon about meeting tonight, she hasn’t turned up. Call me as soon as you get this message and let me know what is going on.” With that he hung up and pocketed his phone and made a portal, stepping through to his office at Pandemonium.

Magnus looked out of the window of his club, it was only eight, still early. But his club was already busy. With a sigh, he turned to his desk and frowned at the paperwork waiting for him. Despite being a warlock and his club catering to Downworlders, this was a legitimate business with mundane’s as staff and customers, which meant paperwork. Alec had laughed his ass off when he came to visit Magnus at the club and found him in his office doing paperwork and not down on the dance floor with his entourage. He decided that he may as well get rid of some of the paperwork before he went down into the VIP section to wait for Alec.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short update. Should have chapter three up by the end of next week.
> 
> I'm working on two other stories, not Malec (Although i do have another story for them outlined) so I'm not how often I will update, but hopefully it will be regularly.

 

The Shadowhunter trio found the demon, still in his elderly man disguise, coming out of an old run-down motel.

“Should we take him now?” Izzy asked, as the three of them began to follow the demon.

“No,” Jace said, “We need to find out where it’s going, see if it will lead us to whoever they're working for.”

“Jace is right,” Alec said as he pulled out his stele. “We’ll split up and tag team him. I’ll stay here, you two go on a head.”

Jace and Izzy nodded as they activated their stealth and speed rune’s and moved on ahead, splitting up as they reached the end of the road. Alec followed closely behind the demon, down the crowded market street. The demon began to sense someone following it, Alec jumped up onto the roof as the demon turned back again. He nodded to his sister, who was waiting on a building across the street to take over. Izzy watched as the demon bumped into a tall, muscular, dark-skinned man and shifted into a perfect copy of him. She nodded to Jace, who was perched up a head on a roof, and pointed to the man - signalling that the demon had changed his appearance. He nodded to let her know he saw, before taking over from her.

“I hate to say this big brother,” she said to Alec, who had caught up to her from behind, “But it looks like it’s going to Pandemonium.” she said as they tracked the demon together.

“Yeah, I know.” Alec frowned.

“Don’t worry, Brother.” Jace said, as the two joined him. He pointed out the dark-haired beauty the demon had changed into, “Magnus can take care of himself and you know he wouldn’t allow anything illegal to happen in his club, plus he would tell you if he knew anything.”

“And that all hell will be let loose when he does find out that demons have been using his club,” she smirked at him before the three of them jumped off the roof and began to follow the demon inside.

“I know.” Alec agreed as they began to make their way into the club. He turned to ask Jace something and frowned as he found him, still behind them, talking to a red-headed girl, “Jace?”

He waited until Jace turned and joined them before they followed Izzy into the club. He counted on Jace and Izzy to keep track of the demon as he looked around the club, trying to find Magnus, as well as looking for who the demon could be meeting.

He spotted Magnus up in his VIP area, surrounded by his entourage. He smirked at the image he made, feeling a shiver of pleasure go through him, knowing that Magnus was his and that he would prove that again later tonight. Reassured that Magnus was safe, Alec turned back to Jace and Izzy and followed them into a curtained off area. He stood behind a pillar, a good advantage point to watch over the two. Izzy went up onto a podium and began dancing to distract the other demons, while Jace went up to the demon and began to question her.

He smirked as he watched Jace try and seduce the answers out of it, a job usually left for Izzy. He jumped as the red-headed girl from before shouted and ran towards Jace and pushed the demon away from him. With a curse, he leaped over the couch and pulled out his blade and attacked the demons that had jumped at Izzy.

He looked over and saw that Jace had lost his blade, but still fighting a demon while protecting the girl. He checked to make sure Izzy was okay before he turned and called out to Jace. Alec threw him his own blade, not checking to see if he had caught it, before he went back to his own demons. He heard Jace call out to him. Alec turned to catch his blade again, and then killed his own last demon. He quickly checked on his sister, seeing that she was fine, he turned to Jace and saw that he was alone.

“Where’s the girl?” he asked his brother.

 

*** ***


	3. Chapter 3

 

Magnus sat in his VIP area and watched the dancing masses as he kept an eye out for Alec. He smirked a little as the group around him flaunted themselves all over him. Even though everyone knew he was a collared submissive and in an exclusive relationship with a possessive Shadowhunter, they continued to throw themselves at him. He took a sip from the glass that was held up for him. He frowned as he saw something, or rather someone’s, in the crowd that should not be there. He stood up and made his way from the VIP area and into the dancing crowd. Magnus made his way towards two men dressed in dark suits and dark  
sunglasses.

“Circle members aren’t welcome in my club.” He scowled at them.

“No worries warlock. It’s all ancient history.”

“Really,” Magnus smirked at them, “Because to me, it was the blink of an eye.”

He throws his hands up and catches the taller of the two by the throat, with his magic, as he went to lunge at him. His cat eyes flashed at the other man as he lifted the other man up and with a flick of his wrist, tightened the magic around his throat. He smiled at the groans of pain coming from him.

“We’ve. Endured. Worse.” He choked.

Magnus snarled, “You’ve inflicted worse.”

He let the magic go and watched as the man dropped to the ground. He turned to the other man, and ordered, “Leave.”

He smirked as he turned and watched the two men growl at him before they stumbled out of his club. He took a deep breath as he tried to calm down the familiar deep anger that Circle members bought upon him, and looked around the club again searching for his Alexander. He frowned as he noticed the closed curtain area and mumbled, “That shouldn’t be closed.” As he began to walk over to investigate.

He stopped, shocked as a red-headed girl came running out from behind the curtains and bumped into him. He stared at her, shocked and surprised. She stared back at him, equally stunned and shocked, but she looked more scared and disorientated. Before he could say anything, she turned and ran out of the club.

Magnus debated on whether he should go after her or continue to investigate behind the curtain. He looked at the curtain and frowned - he could sense his soulmates’ agitation. He walked over and pulled the curtain back and stepped through and found Alexander, his mate, and his siblings arguing.

“What’s going on?” he shouted, gaining their attention.

“Magnus.” Alec said, as he walked away from an angry Jace and pulled him close. “Are you okay?” Alec asked.

“I’m fine,” he said, letting the other man fuss until he was sure he really was okay before he asked again, “What is going on?”

“The demon we were hunting tonight was draining mundanes of their blood,” Alec explained as he intertwined their fingers together and tugged him over to the others, before continuing, "We tracked the demon here. To the club.”

“You don’t think…”

“No, we know you had nothing to do with it.” Izzy smiled at him.

“We tracked the demon here with the hope that it would lead us to whoever they are working for,” Jace growled at Alec, “We were interrogating the demon when a mundane girl, who has the sight, interrupted us. She ran away after the fighting and I say we need to go after her.”

Alec frowned as he felt Magnus stiffen beside him, he turned to him and asked, “What?”

“Dammit,” Magnus mumbled before he looked up to Alec and said, “I need to make a phone call.”

“Magnus?” Alec tightened his hand on his, stopping him from pulling away.

“I …I promise I’ll explain, but first I have to make a phone call,” he looked into Alec’s eyes and tried to get him to understand how serious he was, “Lives depend on it.”

“Okay, go.” Alec nodded, “But I want a full explanation as soon as you’re done.”

“I promise.” Magnus said as he squeezed his hand before he let go and pulled out his phone.  
He walked away a little as he called Dot.

“Dot, listen to me. The Circle have found you.” He said as soon as she answered.

“What? How?”

Magnus quickly explained what had happened as he added, “They have probably followed Clary home by now. Get them both out of there and get to my loft.”

“It’s too late Magnus they’re already here.” She said, worry clear in her voice.

“I’ll be right there.” He said as he turned quickly to Alec and frowned as he noticed that they were a Shadowhunter short, “Never mind, there will be a Shadowhunter there soon.”

“A Shadowhunter, Magnus…”

“You can trust Jace.” Magnus insisted before he hung up and stepped back over to Alec and Izzy.

“Explain.” Alec demanded.

“I just kicked two Circle members out of my club.”

“That’s not possible.” Izzy interrupted him. “The Circle was destroyed when Valentine was killed at the Uprising.”

“That’s ...something that we can talk about later.” Magnus said, “I’m assuming that the demons were here to meet them and I think the Circle members recognised Clary.”

“Clary?”

“The mundane that ran out here,” Magnus said as he added, “She’s the daughter of the client I was supposed to meet tonight.”

“Supposed to?” Alec asked.

“She didn’t turn up…”

He was interrupted as Alec’s phone rang. He pulled it out and said, “It’s Jace.” as he answered. After a quick conversation with him he hung up and pocketed it. “Jace said that he tracked the mundane home. She was attacked and bitten by a Ravener demon. He’s taken her back to the Institute. Can you portal us back?”

“Just Clary?” he asked, as he created the portal.

“That’s all he said.” Alec shrugged as he took Magnus hand and lead him through the portal, Izzy following them.

They stepped through into the hall of the Institute to find Jace waiting for them.

“How is Clary?” Magnus asked, as they began to walk towards the infirmary.

“You know her?” Jace asked, surprised.

“Her name is Clary Fray; her mother is a long-time client of mine. I was supposed to be meeting her tonight but she didn’t turn up.” He explained before he asked, “Was it just Clary there?”

“Yeah, by the time I got there the place was destroyed by a fire. The girl was being attacked by a Ravener demon,” he said as he walked up the stairs and into the infirmary, “She’d been bitten by the demon. I put the iratze rune on her and then brought her here.”

“You put a rune on a mundane?” Izzy asked, shocked as she walked over to the girl lying unconscious on the bed and began to check her over.

“She’s obviously …”

“Jace!” Magnus interrupted, anxiously. “There were another two women living there. Are you sure that they weren’t there?

“I’m sure, Magnus. She was alone, terrified.” Jace said, “She had no idea what was happening.”

“No, she wouldn’t.” Magnus muttered, “Dammit.”

Alec frowned as he saw his normally calm and collected warlock becoming visibly worried and agitated. He walked over to the warlock and cupped his face. “Magnus, Baby, what’s wrong?”

“I left a warlock watching over them,” Magnus explained, as he took Alec’s hands in his and walked over to stand by the bed. Magnus looked down at the girl adding, “If she’s missing, if both she and Jocelyn are missing then we …we’re all in trouble.”

“Why would a mundane and her daughter need a warlock watching over them?” Izzy asked.

“Downworlder business,” Magnus muttered absently as he reached out to inspect the purple pendent that Clary was wearing.

“Magnus.” Alec huffed, with an irritated eye roll.

Whatever Magnus was about to answer was cut short, because the girl gasped and shot up, smacking Izzy in the face.

“Ow.” Izzy muttered.

“The mundane shouldn’t even be here.” Alec muttered, annoyed.

“She’s not a mundane.” Both Jace and Magnus said, giving each other a disgruntled look.

Alec looked shocked before he growled, “No, no this is not happening.” He waved his hand between his brother and his sub as he added, “It’s bad enough when Izzy and Magnus team up against me, it is not happening with you two as well.”

“What is going on?” Clary broke in, “Where am I?”

“We’re not…”

“How do you know she’s not a mundane?” Alec asked, interrupting Magnus.

“The rune worked for one.” Magnus said with a mild glare at Alec for interrupting him. He reached out and traced the healing rune on Clary’s neck. She jerked back and glared at him,he held his hand up as he finished, “She’s completely healed.”

“Not to mention the blade reacted to her.” Jace added.

“Hey!” Clary shouted, fed up with being ignored and talked about, “I don’t know any of you. What is going on and why am I here?”

“You really don’t know much, do you?” Izzy asked.

“She wouldn’t.” Magnus said again.

“All I know is that some psychos took my mother and now you people have taken me.”

“And by taken you mean saved your life.” Izzy smirked.

“Do you know who took your mother?” Magnus asked, “Did either your mother or Dot say anything to you?”

“You …you know my mother…Dot?” she frowned up at him.

“We’re old friends.” He shrugged.

“Who are you people?” she demanded.

“Izzy.” Jace tapped her shoulder. She smirked at him as she stood up and moved to sit down in the chair beside the bed so Jace could sit down on the bed beside Clary. “I’m Jace Wayland. This is Izzy, Alec and Magnus Lightwood.”

“Lightwood-Bane.” Magnus muttered, and as everyone turned to glare at him he shrugged “Not the point, right, sorry carry on.”

“I’m Clary…”

“Clary Fray,” Jace interrupted her, “We know.”

Alec frowned as he looked to Magnus, who stood beside him tense and biting his lip in worry as he paid close attention to Clary, as Jace began to explain the Shadow world. He didn’t understand what was happening but he knew from the way Magnus was reacting it wasn’t going to be anything good.

“I’m not interested in being a part of your supernatural fight club, I just want to find my mom,” Clary interrupted him. “Please.” She pleaded.

“We’re the best chance you got.” Jace said as he motioned to the small group.

“I don’t know any of you.” Clary snapped.

“Clary, you do kind of know me.” Magnus said, he waited until the girl turned to look at him before adding, “At least your mother and Dot do. Do you sense anything about me at all?”

“No, I…” she was cut off as her phone rang and with a pleased gasp, she answered. “Simon,” as the two talked she climbed out of the bed and began to pace.

“What’s that?” Magnus asked, pointing to a leather-bound book on the bed.

“I found it in her house,” Jace said as he picked up the book and opened it to show them sketching’s of runes scattered across the pages, “I don’t know why, but I had to bring it with me.”

As Jace stood up he passed the book to Magnus and followed Clary towards the window.  
Magnus moved the book, allowing Alec to see the pages too.

“She drew these?” Alec asked.

“Jocelyn should have brought her to me sooner.” Magnus muttered as he flipped through the pages.

“What?” Alec said, shooting a sharp look at the other man.

“Excuse me, what happened to my clothes?” She glared at them.

“Demon venom.” Jace shrugged as he sat back down on the bed.

“I have some clothes that you can borrow.” Izzy offered.

Clary gave her a once over and looked at her short leather skirt and vest, with matching knee high boots, the look of disbelief on her face clear.

“I’m very comfortable with my body.” She shrugged at her.

“And so you should be, my darling.” Magnus smirked at her.

“Fine.” She huffed, as she followed Izzy out of the infirmary.

“There’s someone out there, with the mundane.” Jace said as he nodded towards the window.

Magnus dumped the book on Jace lap and he and Alec made their way over to the window. They watched as the boy in glasses paced in front of the church. They both caught a glimpse of the man who was glamoured, leaning against Simon’s van.

“That’s a Circle member.” Magnus said.

“Okay, you need to tell us what the hell is going on.” Jace growled as he threw the book on to the bed and stood up to glare at the warlock.

Magnus stiffened and gave a little whimper of pain at the order Jace gave. This caused Alec to growl, “Jace.” in warning as he moved to stand possessively and protectively in front of Magnus.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” Jace said quickly as he backed up, relaxing his posture as he realised what his anger at the Circle had made him do. “I didn’t mean… you know I would never give your sub an order… I …”

“I know.” Alec gritted through his teeth before he turned his back to him. He crowded Magnus up against the window, cupping Magnus’ face he asked, “You okay?”

Magnus took a deep shuddering breath. He slowly nodded before burying his face in Alec’s neck, allowing his dominant’s scent to calm him down. They stood there in silence as Alec helped Magnus ground himself.

“What’s going on?” Izzy asked as she and Clary came back into the room, the tense atmosphere clearly noticeable. She looked from Jace to her brother huddled with his sub, and then back to Jace.

Alec took a deep breath to calm himself before he pulled back and looked Magnus in the eyes. “Okay?” he waited until Magnus nodded before he turned, keeping an arm around his waist. “Everything’s fine. Just an accident,” He told Izzy, before he turned to Jace and with a small glare he said, “Go with Clary when she goes out to see the mundane, send him home.”

“I don’t need… what is this?” Clary demanded from across the room, where she was checking herself out in the mirror, waving her hand at her neck.

“It’s a rune.” Jace shrugged.

“I don’t care what it is, you don’t get to put a tattoo on me without my permission.” She snapped.

“Okay. Then next time, we’ll just let you die.” Alec snapped back.

“It’s not a tattoo. It’s a rune.” Jace said, ignoring his brother, “They have enormous power, but you know all about runes, don’t you.” he finished as he walked around the bed and picked up her sketchbook, showing her a page of runes she had drawn.

“No, she doesn’t. Not really,” Magnus said as he squeezed Alec’s hand and stepped out of his arms. “Jace take Clary out there and bring Simon back in here.” He added.

“We are not bringing another mundane into the Institute.” Alec protested.

“Yes, we are,” Magnus turned to him as he explained, “The Circle is looking for Clary and Simon is a link to her. He’s always going to have Circle members following him as long as they are looking for Clary. It will put him and his family in danger.”

“Fine, I don’t like it, but fine.” Alec growled.

“I know, but Simon will be in danger.” Magnus said, trying to make Alec understand the seriousness of the situation.

“I get it, I understand. I don’t like it but I understand.” Alec assured him, with a tired sigh he turned to Jace and said, “Go.”

Jace nodded at him and lead Clary out of the infirmary.

“I’m going to see if I can get a hold of Dot. Hopefully she and Jocelyn got away.” He turned back to Alec and said, “We should meet in the conference room. I’ll explain everything once we’re all there.”

Alec watched him leave the room, he jumped as Izzy came up beside him and looped her arm through his and asked, “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” he nodded “I just have this feeling that things are going to get really bad around here.”

“Yes, me too, but as long as we have each other we’ll be fine.” She nodded before she smiled at him and said, “Come on, we should go.”

As they made their way to the conference room they saw Hodge in the training room with one of his students. As they stood and watched the two fighting, Izzy looked up at him and said, “We should get Hodge to join us.”

Alec nodded and as soon as the fight had stopped he called out to the other man.

“Alec. Izzy.” Hodge nodded to them as he wiped his face with a towel and walked over to them he. “What can I do for you?” He asked.

“We need you to come with us to the conference room.” Alec said.

“Why?” Hodge frowned at the younger man as they made their way to the room. He stopped just inside the room as he spotted Clary, shocked he stared at her and whispered, “Jocelyn?”

“No, I’m Clary.” Clary explained, “Jocelyn Fray is my mother.”

“She was Jocelyn Fairchild when I knew her.” Hodge said.

“She’s been kidnapped,” Clary told him, “By a man named Valentine and his men.”

“By the Circle, Hodge.” Alec told him.

“But that’s impossible. Valentine is dead and the Circle died with him.” Hodge said, he winced as the circle rune on his neck began to glow red, burning him.

“Now, you and I both now that’s not true,” Magnus said as he entered the room and walked over to him. He waved his hand over the rune, relieving the pain, “Are you okay?”

“What happened?” Simon asked

“It’s his punishment.” Jace answered him.

“Punishment?” Simon frowned.

“Hodge used to be a former member of a rogue Shadowhunter group called the Circle,” Alec explained as he walked over to Magnus. He was concerned with how agitated the other man was, not something that the others, except maybe Jace, could see but he could feel it through their bond and in the way he kept rubbing his thumb and finger together. He placed his hand on the small of his back, hoping to ease some of his tension as he continued, “After the Uprising Hodge and …some others were captured. Hodge repented and he was banished to  
this Institute to make amends.”

“And the pain?” Simon asked with a wave of his hand, signalling Hodge’s neck.

“The Clave made it a Law that no Shadowhunter was allowed to talk about the Circle.” Alec began.

“And this is the Clave’s way of making sure I keep to that Law.” Hodge finished for him.

“But isn’t that…isn’t that like torture?” Simon asked, shocked.

“What did you mean, Magnus, about it not being true?” Izzy asked, talking over the younger boy.

“Shadowhunters and Downworlders both believed that not all of the Circle members had been captured or killed. So, it was agreed by everyone that no one could talk about the Circle.”

“Why?” Clary asked, “It’s your history, your heritage.”

“You have to understand; the Shadow world was on the verge of a major war. Not just between Valentine and the Downworlders, but also between the Nephilim and Downworlders. After the Uprising, the Downworlders were angry, they wanted Shadowhunter blood. Justice.” He paused as he took a deep breath to try and calm his slowly  
growing anger, before he continued to explain, “When Valentine first started to make a name for himself, he had everyone fooled. Shadowhunters and Downworlders were tricked into believing that he was interested in changing the Accords, for the better of both Downworlders and Shadowhunters, that he wanted to work with Downworlders to protect the mundane world.”

“What are the Accords?” Simon asked.

“But then warlocks started to go missing, then vampires, werewolves and other Downworlders. It didn’t take us long to figure out that it was Valentine and his group that was behind it.” he chuckled bitterly as he added, “As the High Warlock it was my duty to take the proof that we had to the Clave, but they refused to believe that their golden boy Valentine was responsible, and they didn’t want to listen when we tried to tell them that  
Valentine was planning to attack Idris during the re-signing of the Accords. So, the Downworlders teamed up with the few Shadowhunters that did believe us and Valentine walked into an ambush. As Alec said, Hodge and few others surrendered and others were arrested, most were killed, but it was believed that some, not a lot, did manage to escape. Val…”

“We thought he wanted to protect humans, like all Shadowhunters, but we never realised the lengths which Valentine was willing to go, the people he was willing to sacrifice.” Hodge interrupted as he tried to explain, wincing as his rune began to burn. Through clenched teeth he continued, “Most of humanity would have died if we had carried out Valentine’s plan.”

“I still don’t get what this has to do with my mother?” Clary snapped.

“Jocelyn was a member of the Circle.” Hodge said.

“No. No she wouldn’t…my mother …she couldn’t…”

“Jocelyn left to protect you.” Hodge told her, attempting to calm her down.

“But how is it possible that she stayed hidden from the Clave for 20 years?”

“That would be me,” Magnus said, “Jocelyn was the one that warned us about the Uprising, and I think that was partly why the Clave didn’t believe us, because I refused to give up the name of our source.

“Valentine somehow managed to escape during the fighting. A body was found at the Fairchild manor and the Clave did claim that it was Valentines body, but Jocelyn never believed it,” Magnus explained, “Jocelyn came to me a few days after the Uprising and begged me to hide and protect her from both the Clave and Valentine. At first I thought she was being paranoid about Valentine. I told her to go back to the Clave, she was a few months  
pregnant with you at the time. I told her that the Clave would go easy on her just like they did with…”

“Our family.” Alec frowned, as Magnus trailed off with an uncertain look at Alec, “You may as well say it, it’s no secret that our parents got off easy because they had me.”

“Your parents were part of the Circle?” Clary asked.

“Yes.” Izzy nodded.

“Maybe they…would they know…” Clary began, “Could we ask them about Valentine?”

“No, they’re not here,” Izzy said, eyes on Alec as he shifted uncomfortably.

“But they might now where Valentine could be keeping my mom or…”

“I doubt it.” Magnus broke in, “The Clave brought in Seer’s and used the Soul Sword to investigate the Circle members, trust me when I say that they revealed everything they knew about Valentine. When the Lightwoods trial was over, they were sent here with Hodge to lead the Institute.”

“So, they run this place, we could still try to ask them…”

“No, I’m the Head of the Institute now.” Alec cut her off, voice cold. “They have been banished from the Institute, they’re not allowed here unless they are on Clave business.”

“Banished?” Simon asked.

“Not the reason we’re here right now, Sidney,” Magnus dismissed him, as he said, “Jocelyn convinced me that Valentine wasn’t dead and I agreed to help her, and so I hid her.”

“Valentine nearly destroyed the Shadow world and took humanity along with it.” Hodge said, grimacing through the pain, “If he’d gotten the Cup…”

“Are you talking about the Mortal Cup?” Alec asked him with a frown, “The Cup has been lost for years.”

“Valentine stole the Cup just before the Uprising.” Hodge corrected grunting in pain.

Jace walked over to him and offered him support when his knee gave out from the pain.

“What’s the Mortal Cup?” Simon asked, hoping someone would answer him this time.

“The Mortal Cup is one of the most important object’s in the Shadow world. It can create more Shadowhunters.” Jace began to explain.

“But in the wrong hands it can be used to control demons.” Hodge groaned, curling up in more pain.

“Wait a minute,” Clary broke in, “My mother told me that she had stolen and hid something from someone. Could it be this Cup?”

“If Jocelyn hid the Cup from Valentine then she’s in more danger, we’re all in more danger than any of us can imagine.” Hodge broke off as he fell to the floor in pain.

“Stop talking.” Alec ordered, not wanting him to cause himself anymore pain.

Magnus knelt beside the two blondes and waved a hand over Hodge as he again helped relieve him of some of the pain.

“How do we know it’s the Cup?” Izzy asked.

“I didn’t know, she never told me about the Cup.” Magnus defended himself as all eyes turned to him, “In fact Downworlders didn’t now that the Cup was missing until after the Uprising.”

“Do you know where the cup is?” Jace asked Clary, as he stood up to face her.

“No!” she snapped at him, “Look, I told you I don’t know what is going on.”

“Clary, you know about runes, you’ve drawn them,” Jace said as he walked over to her, “You have to know something, think.”

“Jace she can’t because…”

“I’ve tried, Jace,” Clary cried over Magnus, “It’s just blank.”

“Your memory has been wiped.” Jace said.

“Yes, as I have been trying to tell you, it has.” Magnus growled.

“How do you know?” Jace asked.

“Because I’m the one that did it.” Magnus said with an eye roll, clearly implying that Jace had asked a stupid question.

“How?” Clary asked.

“I’m a warlock, sweetie, I can do anything I want.” He said with a wave of his hand, blue sparks trailing from his fingers.

“Who gave you the right to take my memories?” Clary demanded.

“Your mother.” Magnus snapped, ignoring the glare she sent him as he continued, “When your mother first turned up on my doorstep she was about three, maybe four months pregnant with you. I set you both up with new identities and a new life in New York, under protections spells to keep Shadowhunters from finding you. I left a warlock, Dorothea, to look over you.” He paused as his phone vibrated. Pulling it out of his pocket, he frowned at it as he pressed the ignore button before he looked back at Clary and finished, “You were about five the first-time Dot called me in a panic because you had started to see the Shadow world.

“Dot performed a memory modification on you, but a few months later Jocelyn turned up at my loft begging me to take your memories away. I turned her away the first time. But two weeks later she turned back up, with you this time. She played on my weakness for children. She was in a panic about you seeing a demon. Finally, I agreed. Only it wasn’t as simple as removing your memory. It wasn’t going to stop you from seeing something else from the Shadow world, it would just mean more memory spells and that would eventually rot your  
brain. So, I came up with an ingenious, if I do say so myself, spell that would remove anything Shadow world related and it would adapt with you as you grew up. Only problem was that it would eventually wear off, so your mother would bring you to me every two years, or me to renew it. She was supposed to bring you to me tonight, but she never turned up, now I know why.”

He frowned again as his phone vibrated, and he again pressed ignore.

“If you took my memories then you can give me them back.” Clary said.

“No, I can’t…”

“What do you mean you can’t,” She interrupted, “They are my memories. You had no right to take them.”

“I meant I can’t because I no longer have them.”

“What does that mean.” She snapped.

“As a form of self-protection, in case Jocelyn was right and Valentine came back, I fed them to a memory demon.” He snapped back, wincing slightly as he felt Alec tense up beside him.

“You said you performed this spell every two years?” Alec asked him as he turned to him.

“Yes.” He answered warily.

“Did you fed her memories to the demon every time?” he growled.

“Yes.” He winced.

“And you didn’t tell me.” He gritted through clenched teeth.

“I was working as High Warlock…” He tried to defend.

“Don’t.” He interrupted coldly, “You know I wouldn’t have stopped you, wouldn’t have interfered with your duties, but your safety is my priority and you not telling me that you were summoning a Greater Demon was breaking your promise to me, to our bond.”

“I…I’m sorry…I didn’t think…”

Realising that they were being watched he growled, “We’ll continue this later.”

“That sounds like fun,” Magnus muttered followed by another curse as his phone vibrated again, and he said, “I’m sorry. I have to go, that is the sixth call I have gotten from my warlocks. They are being hunted by the Circle and with Dot missing…”

“Go, take care of your warlocks.” Alec nodded, kissing his temple.

“What about my memoires.” Clary cried.

“I can get them back,” he told her hands up as he tried to calm her down, “I can summon the demon and get your memories back, but first I have to take care of my warlocks.” He turned back to Alec and said, “Take her to the loft, it’ll be bigger and safer to summon the demon there.”

“No, warlock.” Clary snapped, voice cold as she ordered, “You get back here and summon the demon. Get me back my memories now!”

At his warlock’s whimper of pain Alec was across the room before Clary even saw him move and had her pinned against the wall as he growled, “I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt, only because you’re a mundane and you don’t understand that warlock powers are linked to their dynamic, it is why submissive warlocks are so rare – the more powerful the warlock the more dominate they are, but Magnus is a submissive, my submissive and for him to ignore a direct order like that causes him pain,” he pulled her chin up forcing her to look him in the eye as he added, “If you ever try to pull something like that again with my submissive I will end you, do you understand.”

“Alec, let her go and go see to your submissive,” Izzy said as she gently pulled him back and away from Clary. She stepped between them and gently pushed him towards Magnus as she said, “Go.”

He turned and walked over to Magnus and pulled him over to a corner of the room.

“You have to forgive him,” Izzy said as she turned to face Clary and said, “He’s a little possessive and protective of Magnus.”

“Little crazy you mean.” Simon huffed from where he was being held back by Jace.

“Please,” Izzy scoffed as she turned to Simon with a tinge of disgust in her voice as she added, “Tell me a mundane dom wouldn’t have reacted the same way to what she tried to  
pull.”

“Well…” Simon trailed off, unsure what to say as even he was a little surprised at what Clary did, “Did he have to be so rough.”

Hodge, who had been sat silently, scoffed a he said, “That was easy compared to what he did to the last guy that tried to order Magnus about. She doesn’t even have a bruise.”

“Alec is protective of his submissives safety,” Izzy began to explain as she led Clary over to the table and sat her down in a chair as she continued, “Magnus was nearly killed a few years ago, due to some power play, so yes Alec is very protective of Magnus and nobody here blames him.”

“What happened?” Simon asked as he watched Jace walk over to the table and sit down beside Clary talking to her quietly.

“Not our story to tell.” Jace said as he sat back in his seat and covertly watched his parabatai and his submissive.

It had taken him some time to adjust to the new relationship. He had always known that Alec had a soulmate mark, but it had been grey and both boys had believed his soulmate was dead. For as long as he had known Alec the most important relationship for both boys had been their friendship and the parabatai bond. He had never understood the loss that Alec felt regarding his dead soulmate, but after the parabatai ceremony he could feel an echo of the sadness and loneliness that Alec felt and he had done everything he could to try and ease that  
pain. When Magnus had entered their lives and Alec had realised that he was his soulmate, Jace had found it strange and was resentful of the warlock that had come in and uprooted his place in Alec life, but after the soul bonding ceremony had been complete he had been unprepared for the sheer contentment that he could feel from Alec. So, for Alec’s happiness he had tried to accept his knew place in Alec’s life and even though the warlock annoyed him, they had become somewhat friends.

He stood and turned as Alec lead Magnus over to the door, whispered something to him before he made his way over to them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Chapter has been updated and betad by the-eleventhfangirl

Alec allowed Izzy to pull him away from the girl. With one last glare shot towards her, he pushed away from her and stalked over to where Magnus stood shivering. Alec herded him over to a corner. He crowded Magnus into the wall and placed himself protectively in front of him. Alec tucked head into Magnus’ neck as he ran his hands up and down Magnus’ back, waiting for his warlock to stop shaking. Eventually, Alec pulled back and cupped Magnus’ face. He tipped the other man’s head back to look him in the eye as he asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m…I’m okay,” Magnus said, managing to move his head into what was supposed to be a nod. He gripped at Alec’s shirt, “It’s just …it was so soon after Jace and I …I can feel the panic that’s gripping my warlocks and if Valentine is back…”

“Hey, hey, shush, calm down,” Alec whispered as he cupped Magnus’ face, pressing their foreheads together. “Take a deep breath and let it out,” he waited until Magnus had followed his instructions and his breathing had calmed a little before asking, “Are you suppressing the bond, cause I can’t feel anything coming from you about your warlocks?”

“A little.” Magnus bit his lip as he peeked up worriedly at Alec through his lashes. Seeing the flash of hurt in Alec’s eyes, Magnus quickly rushed to explain, “I wasn’t trying to keep anything from you, I just…I needed to concentrate and I couldn’t with the constant buzzing in the back of my head… I just pushed it back …I didn’t think that I was … I didn’t realize suppressing it would affect our bond …I’m sorry …I didn’t… I would never…you know I …”

“Hey, hey, shush,” Alec whispered as he pulled Magnus into his arms and rubbed a soothing hand over his back again, “You need to calm down. Take a deep breath and hold it,” with a hand over the other man’s heart he said, “Now let it go. Now in, and hold. Three, two, one and let it out,” they did this for a few more time before Alec asked, “Feeling better?”

“Yes,” Magnus said as he let out a shaky sigh before he adding, “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” Alec snorted a small laugh as he pulled him in for a light kiss. He cupped his face again, forcing Magnus to look him in the eyes as he said, “I know you wouldn’t do it on purpose. I know you love and treasure our bond as much as I do, and our bond wasn’t affected that badly, I could still feel you. I just want to help you, even if it means taking on some of your burden so that you can concentrate.” He waited until the other man nodded before he gently ordered, “So stop suppressing it and let me help.”

“Yes, Sir.” Magnus nodded as he slowly broke down the walls that he had built up around his connection to his Warlocks. He slowly adjusted his bond with Alec, enabling him to feel the panic of the Warlocks and to take some of the pressure away from Magnus. Most importantly, it allowed Magnus to breath and concentrate.

“You’ve been feeling this all afternoon?” Alec asked, surprised and impressed that his submissive was able to function while feeling this. It was different from what he usually felt from Magnus, it was normally a warm and content feeling mixed with an underlay of whatever Magnus was feeling - usually amusement or joy. This was more like a flutter of butterflies taking flight in the back of his mind, just constantly moving around. He knew he was only feeling a fraction of what Magnus was feeling, so he could understand why his submissive needed to suppress it in order to concentrate.

“It was just little flutters at first, worries and agitation, something that I feel all the time, so I didn’t think it was anything to worry about. But over the last hour, it’s been getting stronger and stronger until eventually it’s a constant electrical buzz going on in the back of my head.” Still able to see the concern in his dom’s eyes he added, “Sharing it with you is helping me.”

They stood in silence as they both adjusted to the new sensations. Until Magnus pulled back and said, “I should get to the club. I told Elias to get as many Warlocks there that wanted to go to the Spiral Labyrinth for safety. You should get the others to the loft, I shouldn’t be too long, hopefully.”

“I’ll tell Jace to get them to the loft but I’m coming with you.” Alec told him.

“Alexander I’m okay.”

“I’m not.” Alec gritted, “Do you think I could let you out of my sight after everything that has just happened, knowing how you’re feeling? Beside I don’t think I can be around the girl without wanting to beat the shit out of her right now.”

“She didn’t know…”

“Don’t. I can look past her not understanding how Warlock dynamic affect their powers but what she tried to do, even mundane doms wouldn’t let her get away with that.”

“Okay.” Magnus said as he let out a deep sigh. He winced at the feeling of panic he felt coming from the other warlocks, “I really need to get to the club.”

Alec nodded and kissed him on the forehead before pulling back and leading Magnus towards the door, “Wait for me,” he told him before he turned and walked over to Jace and the others.

“Alec…I’m…I’m sorry…I …I don’t…” Clary shot up from her seat as Alec returned to the table.

“Magnus told his warlocks to meet him at his club, I’m going to go with him.” Alec said, ignoring the girl as he spoke to his siblings, “Take the mundane’s to the loft. Magnus and I will meet you there as soon as all the warlocks have been portalled to safety.”

“Okay.” Jace said.

“How is he?” Izzy asked.

“He’s fi…he’ll be okay,” Alec sighed, “He’s a little messed up from what he’s feeling from his warlocks,” with a nod to Jace and Clary he said, “Add what happened with you two, he’s…he’ll be fine.”

Jace nodded he could feel an echo of the pain the warlock and Alec was feeling through his bond with Alec.

“Of course he will, big brother,” Izzy smiled at him. “He has you to take care of him.”

“Thanks.” Alec smiled at her. “We should go. We won’t be long.”

He turned and made his way back to Magnus. “Ready?” He asked.

“Yes,” Magnus nodded as he waved his hands. Taking Alec’s hand, they stepped through the portal.

As soon as they stepped into the club they were bombarded by questions from Magnus’ warlocks.

“Quiet.” Magnus shouted. He waited until everyone had stopped shouting and said, “I know you are all worried and I know you want to know what is going on, but I can’t answer you if you're all shouting at me all at once.”

Elias, a tall, dark skinned warlock with small horns on the top of his head, stepped forward and asked, “Is it true, is the Circle back?”

“We think…”

“Yes.” Alec said. He stepped forward beside Magnus and continued, “Yes, we believe that former members of the Circle have become active again and we believe that it is them who are hunting warlocks. We don’t know why, but we are working on trying to find out why and to stop them.”

“Which is why I have offered sanctuary and a safe passage for any warlocks wishing to go to the Spiral Labyrinth.” Magnus said, as he took Alec’s hand.

The Spiral Labyrinth had been the home for warlocks for centuries, some believe, even before Raziel created the Shadowhunter race. Much like Idris for the nephilim race, the location was kept a secret, only a select few warlocks new the location and had access to make portals to the Labyrinth. It had only been in the past twenty years, since the aftermath of the Uprising, and relationships between Shadowhunters and Downworlders began to improve, had warlocks allowed other races to come to the labyrinth – Alec himself had only been to the Labyrinth a handful of occasions.

“Will my husband be welcome?” a short plumb warlock asked, her tail wrapping around the waist of the tall muscular man, as she went on to explain, “He’s a werewolf.”

“Of course,” Magnus nodded, “Any spouses, partners and children of warlocks are welcome to the Labyrinth.”

“Even mine?” asked a woman who Magnus knew had recently just married a female Shadowhunter.

“Yes, if my husband is welcome then so are other Shadowhunters that are married or partners of warlocks.” Magnus assured her.

She turned to Alec and asked, “She is stationed at the New York Institute, does she have your permission to leave the Institute to join me?”

“If it is what she wants then yes, she can join you, but under the condition that she will be recalled if she is needed in the fight against the Circle,” he waited until she nodded before he added, “That being said if she wants to stay, you are welcome to seek sanctuary at the Institute. That is also the same for any warlock who has Shadowhunter partners.”

She nodded and with a grateful smile she and a few other warlocks broke off, presumably to contact their significant others.

The werewolf stepped forward and asked, “What about my pack or other packs and Downworlders? What about their protection?”

“All we know right now is that Circle members are attacking warlocks, if and when we learn anything we promise to inform anyone involved and come up with appropriate solution when needed.” Alec promised.

Magnus squeezed Alec hand before he let it go and walked over to the large curtain area and with a wave of his hands he opened the portal. As soon as the portal opened he stepped back and with a flourish of his hands he said, “Okay, everybody’s that leaving step on through.”

He smiled as Alec came up behind him and placed his hand on his lower back. They watched as warlocks and their partners, including four Shadowhunters, came up to Alec and assured him and themselves that they understood their duties and would come back if they were needed, stepped through the portal.

“Magnus!”

“Dorothea!” Magnus turned to the warlock as she ran up to him, “Where is Jocelyn?”

“Valentine has her,” She said, “She took the potion that Ragnor brewed her and I …”

“I know.” He interrupted her, “Jocelyn’s little plan backfired. Valentine knows that a warlock brewed the potion and now he’s hunting down warlocks,” he waved his hand at the portal as he said, “In case you haven’t noticed I’m sending our people away for their protection. I’ve already felt three warlocks die.”

“You have?” Alec asked.

“I know,” Dot talked over the Shadowhunter, “I’ve been portaling all over the city looking for Clary and my magic…”

“Clary’s with us.” Magnus interrupted.

“What?” Dot said, looking around the club for the girl. “Where?”

“She’s safe,” Alec said, before he asked. “Do you know if Jocelyn has the Cup? Do you know where the Cup is?”

“Of course, all you care about is the Cup,” she glared at him before she scoffed at Magnus, “You left her with the Nephilim.”

“Look, Dot, I know you don’t like or trust Shadowhunters and I understand why, but I do trust them, and not just because one of them happens to be my soulmate,” he quickly explained as she went to say something, “But because I have worked with them since the Uprising. You haven’t seen how hard they have worked to change, to work with us. This isn’t an Us versus Them anymore Dorothea,” he waited until she looked up at him as he pleaded with her, “If Jocelyn has the Cup and Valentine gets his hands on it we are all in danger. Come back with us. Help us protect Clary and find Jocelyn.”

“I…”

“Shush…” Alec said as he pulled his bow out and whispered, “Circle members.”

Magnus spun to the portal and shouted “Stop!”.

Elias and two other warlocks turned to him and looked at him.

Magnus quickly closed the portal and explained, “I had to shut the portal down, it isn’t safe with Circle members here.” He turned to Alec as he said, “Call Jace, let him know that I’m opening a portal to the loft and that three warlocks are coming through.”

Alec nodded and stepped back and pulled out his phone, as he called his brother and quickly explained what is happening, he watched as Magnus opened a portal and as soon as the three warlocks stepped, he turned back to help Dot fight the four Circle members. Alec quickly ended the call and prepared to fire his arrow when Dot turned to him and asked, “Are you serious about protecting Clary? Do you really intend to fight Valentine and protect Downworlders?”

“Yes.” He frowned at her as he saw her take a deep breath before she turned to Magnus, “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to draw them away from here,” she turned to him and said, “Get Magnus out of here, protect Clary, save Jocelyn and kill Valentine.”

Dot held up her hand and threw the two remaining Circle members away from where they were fighting Magnus, the warlock turned to frown at her and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Go,” she pointed to the portal.

“Wait, Dot…”

She turned back to Alec and shouted, “Get him out of here,” before she ran past the two men towards the Circle members.

Alec grabbed Magnus by the back of his shirt and dragged him through the portal, landing in a heap on the floor of the loft, with a weak wave of his hand Magnus shut the portal before he collapsed in Alec’s arms.

“You okay?” Alec asked as he cradled Magnus in his arms as he panted clutching his shirt.

“She…Dot…they killed her...” he whimpered, “I felt her…”

“I’m sorry, baby.” He murmured as he ran a hand up and down his back, trying to sooth his submissive.

“What happened? Clary demanded, “Where’s Dot?”


	5. Chapter 5

 

Jace straightened up as Alec made his way over to them.

“Alec! I’m - I’m sorry… I - I don’t…” Clary shot up from her seat as Alec returned to the table.

Alec ignored her. “Magnus told his warlocks to meet him at Pandemonium, I’m going to go with him. Take the mundane’s to the loft. Magnus and I will meet you there as soon as all the warlocks have been portalled to safety.”

“Okay,” Jace said.

“How is he?” Izzy asked.

“He’s fi… he’ll be okay,” Alec sighed, “He’s a little messed up from what he’s feeling from his warlocks. Add what happened with you and the girl he’s… he’ll be fine.”

Jace nodded. He could feel an echo of the pain the warlock and Alec was feeling through his bond with Alec. He had been surprised when he started to feel the pain coming from his parabatai and it had taken him a few moments to realise that it was actually Magnus that was in pain and that Alec was taking some of the pain to help his submissive.

“Of course, he will big brother,” Izzy smiled at him, “He has you to take care of him.”

“Thanks.” Alec returned the smile. “We should go. We won’t be long.”

Jace watched as Alec walked through the portal with his sub. He turned to Izzy as she called his name.

“Are they really okay?” she asked as soon as she turned to look at him.

“Magnus is… he’s in a lot of pain form the panic that he’s feeling from his warlocks.” Jace frowned as he tried to explain what he was feeling from the other two men. “And Alec - Alec is worried about Magnus.”

Izzy nodded as she turned to the other two and said, “Okay, I guess we’re going to Magnus’ loft.”

“Isn’t there anything else we can do to try and find my mum?” Clary pleaded.

“No.” Jace turned to the two. “I think waiting for Magnus to get your memories back is the best way to go.”

“But my mom…”

“We’ll find her, Clary.” Simon said as he took her hand, “We just have to sit tight for a little bit.”

“Fine,” she huffed as she stood up. “Let’s get to this loft.”

They drove Simon’s van to the loft in silence, only broken occasionally by Simon as he asked for directions.

“What is this place?” Simon asked as they entered.

“This is Magnus’ loft. He used to live here before he met Alec,” Izzy said as she sat down on the teal armchair, swinging her legs over the arm, “Now he just works from here.”

“So, seeing as we are waiting for Alec and Magnus,” Simon said as he sat down in the leather couch with Jace as Clary settled on the orange armchair, “Maybe you can explain what exactly is happening? What are Shadowhunters and Downworlders?”

“We’re Shadowhunters,” Jace explained as he waved a hand between himself and Izzy, “Shadowhunters protect mundane’s – humans - from demons.”

“Because there are demons running all over New York.” Simon muttered.

“That’s the first correct thing you’ve said all day.” Jace smirked at the Submissive.

Simon blushed as he said, “What makes Shadowhunters different from humans?”

“We have Angel blood.”

“Of course,” Simon muttered as his gazed snapped between the two Dominants.

“Our angel blood allows us to wear and use runes.” Jace said as he lifted his t-shirt to show him the rune on his side.

“And they - they do what exactly?” the Sub swallowed, snapping his gaze away from Jace’s chest, up to his smirking face.

“They give us our demon fighting abilities.” Izzy said as she stood up and took out her stele and ran it over the Angel rune on her left arm.

“So, hot.” Simon flushed at the smirk Izzy sent him.

“What happens if you use a rune on humans?” Clary asked, fed up with being ignored.

“They usually die,” Izzy shrugged, “Sometimes they go crazy. When that happens we call them a Forsaken and then we kill them.”

“And you put a rune on me, knowing that could happen to me.” She turned to glare at Jace.

“I knew you would survive. You have the Sight.” The Dominant shrugged.

“You had no way of knowing that.” She snapped.

“You could see me when I was glamoured.” He shrugged again at the young female Switch.

“So, the Forsaken are demons, like Downworlders?” Simon asked quickly, wanting to stop any arguments.

“Downworlders aren’t demons, they’re supernatural beings like vampires and werewolves and they are our allies.” Izzy explained.

“Warlocks are half demon, they have demon blood.” Jace took over, “And they are our greatest allies. We fight together to protect the mundane’s and Shadow World from demons and rogue Downworlders.”

“Or rogue Shadowhunters.” Izzy finished.

“Valentine?” Simon asked.

“Yes,” Jace said as he and Izzy shared wary glances, “We really don’t know much. It is Law not to talk about the Circle, but you can’t really stop gossip and what we do know is that Valentine was a Shadowhunter, who gathered a following and they went rogue. They believed that Downworlders should be eradicated like all demons. They wanted to purify the world for humans.”

“So, the Circle is bad news and we’re all in serious trouble.” Simon muttered as he slumped into the chair.

“Yes,” Izzy smiled at him, hiding a giggle as he blushed. She added, “But don’t worry, we won’t let anything happen to you.”

“And me?” Clary asked.

“Of course,” she shrugged, “But you’re a Shadowhunter. You were born to do this.”

“Is that supposed to be a pep talk?” Clary scoffed.

“Basically.” Izzy shrugged.

“I’m hungry.” Jace mumbled.

“I’ll go and see if Magnus keeps any food here, see if I can cook us something.” Izzy said as she stood up.

“Or we could just order something,” Jace said, before he muttered, “Might be safer that way.”

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that.” She glared at him playfully before she stretched and made her way into the kitchen.

Jace smirked at Simon as he watched the other man stare after Izzy. He cleared his throat and chuckled as the other man jumped and looked at him guiltily before Jace leaned in and whispered, “Don’t eat the food. It’s dangerous.”

He smirked as he felt the boy shiver before he sat back on the couch.

Blushing Simon slumped back in his couch again as he cleared his throat and asked, “So you guys, your all family?”

“Yes, Alec and Izzy are brother and sister. I was adopted when I was ten and later became Alec’s parabatai.”

“Parabatai?” Simon asked.

“Brothers in arm,” Izzy answered as she came back into the room carrying a tray of bread and two bowls of something unidentifiable. Placing the tray on the coffee table and sat down beside Jace, she swung her legs up and laid them over his and Simon’s legs, “We grew up together, trained together. Learned to fight side by side.”

“And Magnus?” Simon asked.

“He and Alec are soulmates,” Izzy said, “They’ve been a bonded pair for just over five years now. So, yes he’s family too.”

“You said you grew up together training to fight together,” Clary said, “But I haven’t, I haven’t had any training. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Yet,” Izzy shrugged, “Right now we concentrate on Magnus and getting your memories back.”

“Then we concentrate on your training and then we take down the most dangerous rogue Shadowhunter in history before he kills us all.” Jace finished.

“Oh, is that all?” Simon uttered incredulously.

“Yep, that’s all.” Izzy smirked at him, enjoying the light blush on his cheeks.

Jace’s phone ringing caused them to jump. He quickly answered and as he listened to Alec a portal opened and out stepped three warlocks.

“What’s happening?” Izzy asked as they all stood up.

“The clubs under attack by Circle members,” he explained, “Magnus had to shut the portal to the Labyrinth. He sent the last of the warlocks here for safety.”

As soon as he had finished explaining Alec and Magnus tumbled through the portal and landed in a heap on the floor of the loft. With a weak wave of his hand Magnus shut the portal before he collapsed in Alec’s arms.

“You okay?” Alec asked as he cradled Magnus in his arms as he panted clutching his shirt.

“She…Dot…they killed her...” he whimpered, “I felt her…”

“I’m sorry, baby,” he murmured as he ran a hand up and down his back, trying to sooth his Submissive.

At the mention of Dot, Clary stood up and rushed over to the two.

“What happened?” Clary demanded, “Where’s Dot?”

“She… she’s dead.” Magnus whimpered.

“What?” Clary cried, “No…how?”

“Circle members,” Magnus said as he pushed himself to sit up in Alec’s arms, “She… they attacked …she gave herself up to protect you...”

“And you just let her go.” She snapped.

“We didn’t let her,” Alec snapped as he stood up, pulling Magnus up beside him, “We almost died. She sacrificed herself so that we could protect you and find your mother, so back off!”

“Clary, come and sit down.” Izzy said as she pulled the distraught girl over to the couch and sat her down.

“Are you two okay?” Jace asked them.

“Physically, we’re fine.” Alec nodded before he turned to Magnus and asked, “Are you?”

“I will be.” He sighed tiredly before he straightened up and nodded to the three warlocks in the corner of the room, “Let me deal with them and then we can – ”

“Summon the demon,” Clary finished for him as she stood up and glared at him.

“Yes.” He huffed with a small glare at Clary and turned to walk over to the warlocks.

“Wait, Magnus,” Alec called out stopping him, “Are you … do you have enough energy to summon the demon right now?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine.” He smiled at him.

“What about the other warlocks?” Izzy asked, “Can they help?”

“No, Elias isn’t powerful enough to summon a Greater Demon, and Zoey is just a child, she doesn’t have full control over her powers yet and I won’t risk her father, not now.”

“But…”

“No!” Magnus snapped as he turned to glare at the girl, “I have lost enough of my people because of your family.”

“It is not my fault what my mother did.” She glared back at him.

“I’m not talking about your mother.” He snapped back at her.

“What? What does that mean?”

Magnus let out a tired sigh as he said, “I didn’t want to be the one to tell you or for you to find out this way, but I guess you were going to find out when you get your memoires back.”

“Find out what?”

“Jocelyn wasn’t just a member of the Circle. She was Valentine Submissive, she wore his collar.”

“No…no…”

“You are Valentine’s daughter.”

“No…that…that’s not….it can’t be…” Clary cried, slumping down in her chair and burying her head in her hands.

“I’m sorry.” Magnus whispered before he walked over to the warlock who stood silently watching.

“Is he really okay?” Izzy asked as she tried to comfort the crying girl.

“I don’t know.” Alec sighed as he watched his Sub lead his fellow warlocks out of the room and into a back room and secured it with his magic.

“Okay,” Magnus said as he walked over to stand beside Alec, “Summoning such a powerful demon can be lethal.”

“I’ll do anything to save my mother.” Clary said as she glared at him.

“I think that’s what he afraid of,” Alec muttered.

“Where is the demon?” Clary said, ignoring the other man.

“Okay, come with me.” Magnus gestured for her to follow him.

He led her into a large and empty room. He snapped his fingers and a leather satchel appeared in his hands. He held it out to her and with a questioning look she took it and opened it.

“These chalks are beautiful,” she gasped as she ran her fingers over the smooth luxurious colourful chalks, “What are they for?”

“To summon the memory demon the person that wants their memories back must draw the pentagram,” he said as he snapped his fingers again a rolled-up parchment appeared. Unrolling it he held it up for her to see the complicated drawing of the pentagram, “I can walk you through it, if you like?”

“I got this,” she smirked as she took the parchment from him and studied it.

Magnus nodded before he turned to Jace who was lingering at the door. “Prepare Clary as best as you can.”

“Prepare me?” she questioned.

Magnus nodded to Jace as he passed him and joined Alec and Simon by the couch, Magnus grabbed Simon as Clary’s scream echoed throughout the room.

“What’s he doing to her?” he asked as he tugged out of Magnus hold.

“He drew a rune that will help her draw the pentagram and concentrate when we summon the demon.” Magnus explained.

“She was screaming.”

“Some runes are more powerful than others,” Alec explained to the younger submissive, “Clary’s never used any runes before we used the healing rune on her. So, this one would hurt her more than she was prepared for.”

“Is she okay?” Simon asked as Jace stepped out of the room.

“She’s okay.” he nodded at the boy as he added, “She’s strong. She’ll be fine.”

“I know.” Simon nodded.

“Hungry?” Alec smirked as he heard Magnus stomach rumble.

“Starving.” He blushed.

“Oh, uh, Izzy made something.” Simon gestured to the plate on the coffee table.

“Oh.” Alec looked a little pale as he looked at the food.

“From where?” Magnus asked warily as he too stared at the food.

“Your kitchen.” She shrugged.

“That kitchen?” he asked as he looked at her horrified, “Where I keep all my exotic,” with an innocent smile at Alec “and totally legal,” before looking back at her and finished “ingredients that I use for my spells and potions.”

“Yes,” she said becoming a little wary as why he looked so alarmed, “Why?”

“Because I don’t keep food, at least food that is edible for humans, in this loft, Izzy.”

“Oh.”

“Nobody ate any of it, did they?” he asked worriedly.

“No!” Simon and Jace both shouted in answer.

“Good,” he clicked his fingers and the tray disappeared and was replaced with some local take out.

“Oh, thank god, I thought my stomach was gonna eat itself,” Simon moaned as he jumped on the food.

Magnus chuckled as he picked up a carton and walked over to the room and knocked on the door before walking in.

“Clary, I brought you some food.”

“Not hungry.” She mumbled as she continued to draw.

“Clary, you need to eat.” Magnus said.

“Not…”

“Clary, we all need to keep our strength up for the summoning. If you don’t eat, you’re going to be too weak to do the spell, and I won’t risk my family because your being too stubborn and acting childish, now eat.”

“Fine.” She dropped the chalk, stood up and grabbed the carton from his hands, “Happy?” She snapped as she sat back down, eating as she studied the drawing.

Magnus rolled his eyes at her childish behaviour. As he turned to walk out the door, he paused and told her, “Do not get food stains all over my very expensive parchment.”

He walked out of the room and over to the couch, curling up beside Alec taking the offered food. They sat and talked amongst themselves as they waited for Clary to finish drawing.

Finally, Clary came out of the room and said, “I’m done.”

She turned and walked back into the room and stood in front of the pentagram as the others came in.

“Jocelyn was right, your artistry is beyond compare.” Magnus said as he came up beside her and looked over her flawless artwork.

“I don’t know about that.” She blushed.

“Oh, the only other person I’ve known who could draw as well was Michelangelo,” he said before he smirked at Alec, “Who was excellent in bed, I might add.”

“Oh, please,” Alec scoffed as he swatted Magnus behind, “You and I both now that you never slept with or even met the man.”

“Your flirting is weird,” Jace muttered with an eye roll.

Magnus giggled a little as he pecked Alec on the lips before he pulled back and with a clap of his hands he said, “Okay, Simon, I’m sorry but you can’t take part of the actual ritual,” at the boy’s frown he explained, “We need to stand around the pentagram, one person at each point, and seeing as I don’t know you as well as the others and it is Clary’s memories that we’re going to retrieve, I’m afraid that means you have to sit out. You are welcome to stay in the room, just stay behind me and keep quiet.” He smiled at him as he gave a disappointed nod, before he took a deep breath and said, “Okay, then I think we’re ready.” Magnus settled in at the point of the pentagram in front of Simon. “Everyone take a place around the pentagram.”

Alec moved to stand at the point next to Magnus with Jace, Clary and Izzy standing at the others. Simon quietly made his way to the back of the room as he watched this unfold.

“We must initiate a bond. Once this bond is sealed it cannot be broken until the demon retreats,” Magnus explained. “No matter what happens we must not let go of each other’s hands.”

Magnus held out his hand for Alec to take. Alec did the same with Jace, and one by one they all joined hands with those next to them, with Magnus and Izzy completing the circle.

“I will lead the ceremony and you all must do exactly as I say,” Magnus instructed, “The demons name is Valak, and at some point he will ask for payment in exchange for Clary’s memories.”

“What kind of payments?” Alec asked him.

“I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and see.” Magnus shrugged. “Everyone ready? Then let’s begin.”

Alec watched him carefully as he began to chant in Chthonian. He had every faith in Magnus, he was a High Warlock after all. He knew how powerful his warlock was, but he also knew how draining it could be to summon a Greater Demon and Magnus had been under a lot of stress due to what had just happened with his warlocks, not to mention his usual duties as High Warlock and Council member. He just wanted to make sure that his mate was not pushing himself to do too much.

Everyone began to shift uneasily as they felt the atmosphere become heavy.

“My necklace,” Izzy gasped, “It’s pulsing.”

“What does that mean?” Clary asked, swallowing nervously.

“It means Valak is coming,” Magnus said, just as a heavy wind began to blow throw the room and a dark smoke came into the circle. Growls coming from the smoke. “Valak is among us. Do not break the bond.” After some more growling Magnus translated, “He demands his payment.”

“What does he want?” Alec asked.

“We must each relinquish a beloved memory of the one we love the most.” Magnus answered.

The demon started with Alec, taking a memory of Magnus, from Magnus the memory was of Alec’s as was the memory it took from Izzy, while Clary gave one of her mother.

“Something is wrong,” Magnus gasped.

“What!” Alec shouted as he whipped round to look at him.

“Alec, somebody has broken my wards, someone is here that shouldn’t be.”

“What do we do?” Alec asked.

“I don’t – if we break the bond the demon escapes, but if we hold the bond and the Circle members come in and kill us the demon will still escape.”

“Can you hold the demon long enough...”

Before he could finish his sentence, an arrow came shooting across the room. He was just able to pull Magnus out of the way before the arrow could hit him.

“I’ve got the demon,” Magnus shouted as he jumped up and held out his hands, but he warned, “I won’t be able to hold it for long.”

Alec and Jace exchanged a quick look before Jace nodded and turned to run into the other room after the Circle member, Izzy running after him.

“Stay behind me,” Alec ordered as he reached out and grabbed Clary and pushed her behind him and Magnus with Simon. He pulled out his seraph blade and nodded to Magnus as he jumped at the demon stabbing it through the heart. The blast from the demon dying knocked all of them to the ground.

Alec groaned as he sat up and crawled over to Magnus and pulled the older man up into his arms, cupping his face he asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Magnus panted, as he quickly scanned his Dominant for injuries, “Are you?”

“Fine, I’m fine,” Alec said as he stood up and pulled Magnus up with him, quickly checking him over to make sure he really was okay.

“We’re fine thanks.” Simon grumbled as he pushed himself up and helped Clary to her feet.

“Magnus!”

“Zoey!” Magnus pushed away from Alec and ran out the room to find Jace fighting two Circle members. Izzy stood over the little girl warlock, who was crying over her father, while four Circle members were circling Izzy.

Magnus throw his hands up and blasted a ball of magic at one of them, throwing him across the room. Izzy used her whip on the one on her left as she kicked out at another.

The remaining man turned to him and smirked at him, “Cat eyes, be a nice addition to my collection.”

An arrow whistling past his ear had Magnus smirking as the arrow embedded in the man’s leg, causing him to grunt in pain and collapse to his knees. Magnus let loose another blast of magic and slammed it into the man causing him to fall back, dead.

“Well done.” Alec smirked at him.

“More like medium rare.” He smirked back.

“Magnus!” Zoey called again, “My dad.”

Magnus rushed over to them and dropped down beside them, hands hovering over the fallen warlock and tried to heal him.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Zoey.” Magnus said, “He’s gone.”

He pulled the little girl into his arms as she began to cry. As he comforted her he looked around and noticing that the fighting had finished he asked, “Elias?”

“Sorry, Magnus.” Jace shook his head.

“Dammit.” He muttered as he pulled back from Zoey and wiping her tears away he said, “Zoey, this isn’t safe for you to be here. I’m going to send you through to the Labyrinth, ok?”

She nodded as she stood up and held Magnus hand as she helped him up and he turned to Alec and Jace and asked, “Could you help?” he nodded to the two dead bodies after they both nodded to him he said, “I’ll send Zoey through first,” he squeezed her hand before letting it go and stepped forward. “And then we’ll take the bodies through.”

With a wave of his hands he opened the portal and turned to Zoey and asked, “Ready?”

Seeing the hesitation, he smiled and held out a hand to her and turned to Alec and said, “I’m going to step through with her. Can you bring the bodies through?”

Alec nodded and as Magnus lead the little girl into the portal, Jace and Izzy grabbed Zoey’s father and Alec picked up Elias smaller body and carried them through. He nodded to the small group of warlocks that came and took the bodies from them. Alec looked around the brightly lit room looking for Magnus, only relaxing when he spotted him and Zoey talking to another female warlock at the other end of the room.

“So, this is the Labyrinth?” Jace asked.

“It’s the entrance.” Alec said, never taking his eyes off Magnus, “We wait here until we are greeted by one of the Elder Warlock’s if we haven’t been officially invited.”

“We haven’t been invited?” Izzy frowned at him.

“Technically, you haven’t been officially invited. I have an open invitation due to my relationship with Magnus, but anyone else comes here first due to the magical barriers. The Elders are the ones who maintain it and you can only get past them if they agree and let them down.”

He sighed in relief as Magnus walked over to them and straight into his arms. “You okay?”

“I should have sent them straight here,” he mumbled into Alec’s chest. With a tired sigh, he pulled back and said, “We should get back.”

Alec placed a kiss on his forehead as he took his hand and followed Jace and Izzy back through the portal and into the loft.

“Everything okay?” Simon asked.

“Everything’s fine.” Alec said.

“No, not really, we’re no longer safe here,” Magnus said as he explained, “The loft’s location has been compromised. Hold tight everyone, we’re about to move.”

Magnus stood in the centre of the room. He waved his hands, and the room began to shake and rumble until he threw his hands up in the air and then down to the ground. A calm and stillness settled throughout the loft.

“What just happened?” Simon asked.

“I moved the loft to a more secure location,” Magnus explained.

“You moved a whole building? Won’t someone notice that a whole building has been moved?”

“No, I just moved the loft. It’s complicated.” Magnus walked over to the couch and slumped down on to it, Alec sitting down beside him.

“So, what do we do now?” Clary asked, “Can we summon the demon again?”

“That won’t work,” Magnus said, “We had to kill it.”

“What! Why?” She cried, scowling at him

“It was kill it or let it escape and kill all of us.” Alec glared at her.

“Then how do we get my memories back now?” she asked, “How do we find my mom?”

“There is another option,” Jace offered.

“Don’t even…” Izzy began.

“Absolutely not.” Alec snapped.

“I’m not afraid of the Silent Brothers.” He shrugged.

“Who are the Silent Brothers?” Clary asked.

“They’re Shadowhunters who have superior powers.” Jace said.

“And they do have the power to recover memories,” Izzy added softly.

“A process that can also kill you, so there’s that.” Alec smirked as Magnus lightly hit his arm before he turned more serious and said, “We’ve broken at least ten Clave rules and god knows how may Council rules, and now you want to go to the City of Bones? There’s no way. I won’t allow it.”

Jace ignored him as he looked to Magnus and asked, “Will it work? Could the Silent Brothers be able to break the block you put on her mind?”

“I don’t know, I really don’t,” Magnus shrugged, “But I personally wouldn’t risk it. She’s not prepared. She doesn’t know what she will face. Alec is right, the process will most likely kill her.”

“Well, it isn’t up to you is it.” She snapped at them. “If any of you can tell me of any other way that I can recover my memories and to get the answers that we need, then I’m listening.” She waited as everyone kept quiet and said, “Then let’s do this.”

Alec and Magnus shared a quick look and with a tired sigh Magnus shook his head.

Alec turned to her and said, “Fine, but not tonight.”

“But…”

“No, this time you listen to us,” Alec said as he stood up and stared her down, “You are not prepared to face the Silent Brothers. Not tonight, no rune, spell or potion will prepare you to face them.”

“I’m stronger than you think.” She glared at him.

“Alec is right,” Magnus said, “You are not prepared. Not even Alec, Izzy or Jace are prepared to face the Silent Brothers tonight. This is not about how strong we think you are, it’s about keeping you alive.”

“But my mom…”

“Clary, maybe they’re right,” Simon said as he walked over to her, “You’re not going to be able to help your mom if you’re hurt, or worse, dead.”

“Okay,” she sighed, “You’re right. I am tired.”

“Seriously, all we had to do was to get Bambi to tell her no and she’d listen,” Magnus mutters as Alec sat back down beside him and buried his head in Magnus hair to muffle his laughter.

“So, I guess we’re having a sleepover!” Izzy smiled as she snuggled down in one of the armchairs.

“Looks like.” Magnus yawned and tiredly clicked his fingers and a bundle of blankets and pillows appeared.

Soon everyone was settling down, Alec and Magnus curled up together on the couch, Clary and Simon on one of the loveseats and Jace and Izzy each in an armchair.

Alec carded his fingers through Magnus hair, settling him against his side. Once he was sure that everyone had settled down and began to drift off he turned to his sub and asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” he said as he nuzzled into Alec neck, “I can’t feel them panicking anymore, now that they’re in the Labyrinth.”

Alec hummed as he continued to run his fingers through his hair as he debated if he should say what he was thinking. Biting his lip, he took a deep breath and said, “Maybe… maybe you… you should go with them…”

“Will you be joining me?” Magnus asked as he shifted in Alec’s arms so he could look him in the eye.

“I can’t – I’m the Head of the Institute and… you know Jace and Izzy are gonna be in the middle of it all.”

“Then you know what my answer is.” Magnus laid his head back on Alec chest.

“Magnus…”

“No, Alec,” Magnus interrupted as he shifted again to look at him, “I’m staying here with you. I’ve been fighting this fight longer than you’ve been alive. This is my fight more than it is yours, Izzy’s or Jace’s, and I’m not leaving you when I can help. If something happened to you because I wasn’t here…”

“Okay, I understand.” Alec pulled Magnus back down back to his chest. “You know I had to try. Your safety is my most important priority, and with Valentine hunting warlocks…”

“I know.” Magnus pressed a kiss onto his shoulder.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Hmm.”

“What you said to Dot, about how you understood why she didn’t trust Shadowhunters.”

“You want to know why?” Magnus asked as he shifted again so that they could look each other in the eye, “Why she doesn’t trust Shadowhunters and why I understand?”

At Alec’s nod of confirmation, He took a deep breath as he began to explain. “Dorothea is an older warlock, not as old as me, but she was old enough to remember the time when Shadowhunters hunted Downworlders for sport. She used to have a good relationship, a working relationship, with the Nephilim, but it was when her husband was killed that we realised what Valentine was really doing and when the Clave refused to listen to us, it destroyed any faith she had in the Clave. She became consumed with getting revenge on Valentine and the Circle,” he frowned as he added, “I was worried when she volunteered to look over Jocelyn and Clary, but I think it was what she needed, something to focus on other than her anger and hatred.”

Alec nodded and he reached up to play with Magnus collar as he asked, “Why don’t you?”

“You mean beside you,” he smirked playfully at his Dom, but seeing how serious he was he added, “I was tired of all the death and hate. Downworlders wanted revenge, but I just wanted peace and I know I wasn’t the only one. Imogen Herondale came to me and we both discussed ways to stop the war that was coming. It was her that came up with the Downworlder Council, she thought if we had this it would appease the Downworlders, but they wanted more. They wanted equality, no more Shadowhunters thinking there better or ruling over them. So, they – we – pushed for more. Shadowhunters resented it, that they were being forced to change, but they didn’t want a war any more than Downworlders did, so they accepted that changes were going to happen and worked with Downworlders to get to where we are now. To Shadowhunters like you and your sister who could look at a Downworlder and not just see a warlock, a half demon, but a person.”

“I love you.” Alec pulled Magnus in and pressed a kiss on his lips.

“I love you too,” Magnus sighed as he nuzzled into Alec’s chest, “We should get some sleep, be prepared for tomorrow.”

Alec just hummed as they both settled down and soon joined the others in sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have started a new job and with other responsibilities I haven't had much time to work on the story much, but things have settles down now and I've got time to work on the story. I'm also going to try and post a chapter every second Friday.

 

Magnus grumbled as he buried himself deeper into his covers, attempting to block out the arguing that was happening on the other side of the room.

“Jace, we have to inform the Clave,” Alec insisted.

“Come on, Alec!” Jace snapped, glaring at his brother.

“We have to get the Clave’s permission to enter the City of Bones,” Alec said.

“I don’t care about your bosses or what they have to say. If these Silent Brothers can give me my memories back, then that’s where I’m going.” Clary glared at him.

“Oh, my god, what time is it.” Magnus groaned as he pushed to covers off of him and sat up.

“A little after one.” Alec answered as he came over and sat down beside him, running a hand through his hair. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I could sleep for another couple of hours.” Magnus buried his head in Alec’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Alec agreed before he pulled back and placed a quick kiss on his forehead. “Izzy and I went out and bought everyone lunch. Come and get some.”

“Coffee?” he asked hopefully, accepting Alec’s hand to help him up.

“Oh, trust me, there’s plenty of coffee.” He laughed as he led him over to the kitchen where everyone stood around the small counter which was covered in various sandwiches, bagels, fruit, pastries, and two carafes of coffee. Alec handed Magnus a cup of coffee which he gulped down before he accepted the plate of food and another large cup of coffee from Alec.

“I want to go to the Silent Brothers, now,” Clary demanded as she put her cup down and glared at Alec.

“And I have told you, after we’ve informed the Clave of everything that we know.” Alec said, his tone impatient, implying this wasn’t the first time he’d said it.

“Alec…”

“Alec is right,” Magnus interrupted Jace, “We need to inform both the Clave and the Council.”

“But…”

“What exactly is the Clave or the Council?” Simon asked, talking over a protesting Clary.

“The Clave is the political body of Shadowhunters,” Alec explained, “The Clave keeps and interprets the Law and guide the Nephilim race.”

“The Shadow Council is relatively new,” Magnus took over as he picked at the grapes from his plate, leaning against the counter. “It was established after the Uprising. It consists of both Downworlders and Shadowhunters, and they write the Accords and Laws that both Shadowhunters and Downworlders must abide to.”

“What are the Accords?” Simon asked, flinching at the glare Clary shot him.

“Simon!” Clary growled at him, annoyed that nobody was doing what she wanted.

“The Accords are a peace negotiation signed between Downworlders and Nephilim,” Izzy said, talking over the girl.

“So, they’re basically laws.”

“A bit more complicated, but yes.” Jace shrugged.

“So, it’s important to inform them?” he asked.

“Yes!” Alec snapped, getting irritated at constantly repeating himself.

“The Council will notice that warlocks have started to go in to hiding.” Magnus pushed away his empty plate and picked up his cup. He took a quick sip before he added, “They’re going to want to know why they are gone and why I opened up the portal to the Labyrinth for them, and then they are going to want to know why the Clave never reported anything about Valentine or Clary and Jocelyn and that will lead to the Clave wanting to know why you didn’t report any of it.” He paused until they took in how serious he was being. “We have to get ahead of this before A…all of us get in trouble.”

“So, this is what we are going to do,” Alec said quickly, hoping that nobody noticed Magnus’ -almost-slip up, “After everyone has finished their lunch, we’re going back to the Institute. Magnus and I are going to report to the Clave and Council. While we’re doing that, I want Jace to start Clary on her training and Izzy to research everything you can on these demon attacks, see if you can you make any connections with other demon attacks or potential Circle attacks.” He turned to Clary. “And there will be no arguing, understood?”

Clary glared at him before she reluctantly nodded.

“Alec…”

“I said no arguing,” Alec snapped at Jace before he stood up and turned to Magnus and asked, “I’m going for a shower. Join me?”

Magnus nodded and took Alec’s offered hand and followed him into their old bedroom.

Alec pulled Magnus into his arms as soon as he closed the door and buried his head in his neck, nuzzling the mark before he kissed it and pulled back and asked, “Are you really okay?”

“I’m fine, a little tired but I’m okay.” He assured his Dominant.

“You’ll tell me if that changes,” he ordered as he began to gently remove his necklaces and place them on the drawers.

“Yes, Sir.” Magnus sighed as he held up his hands foe Alec to remove his rings and bracelets, placing a kiss as each piece of jewellery was removed. Once he had removed the last bracelet he kissed each wrist before he tugged on his arms and wrapped them around his waist. He ran his hands up his mate’s toned arms, up his neck to cup the back of his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss.

He slowly lightened the kiss until he pulled back and rested his forehead against his mate’s. He sighed as he arched into the soothing hands Magnus was running up and down his back.

“Are you okay?” Magnus asked.

“I will be once all this mess is over and we can go back to the way things were,” he said as he ran his hands up his chest and began to unbutton his shirt.

“Yes, our normal days of killing demons and monsters,” Magnus joked, moving his arms to help Alec remove his shirt. He frowned as Alec left the expensive shirt lay on the floor.

“Shut up,” Alec groaned at Magnus’ frown, knowing how he felt about his clothes. He cupped Magnus’ face as he pulled him into a gentle kiss before he pulled back and said, “We don’t have much time, we really should report to the Clave and Council soon, so I can’t let you drop too deep but I can take you a little into your sub space.”

“As you wish, Sir,” Magnus murmured, his lips brushing his Dom’s.

“Good,” he smiled at Magnus’ shiver as he grazed his nails lightly down his back, “You get the shower ready and I’ll be right back.”

Magnus nodded and tilted his head up. Alec pulled him back in for another kiss before he pushed him gently towards the bathroom. He waited until Magnus had closed the door before he walked over to the chest of drawers across the room and opened the top drawer. They didn’t have many toys here, having moved everything important to them to the Institute, but they still had a few things here for when they stayed over. He pulled out a light blue silk scarf and a black velvet blindfold. With the items in hand, he turned and went to join his Submissive in the shower.

 

 

 

 

*** ***

 

Jace stood beside Izzy as she sat in front of the computer, working on the research that Alec had told her to do.

“This is taking too long,” Clary huffed as she crossed her arms and glared at them.

“I told you,” Izzy rolled her eyes. She took a deep breath to try and calm the irritation and annoyance building up from listening to Clary whine. She understood that the other woman was worried and scared about her mother but she had spent the last five hours sat in the chair in front of the computer researching unusual police reports and anything that she could find to try and connect them to Valentine and the Circle and she was getting annoyed at Jace looming over her and Clary’s constant complaints. She sighed as she stretched her neck before she finished, “Talking to the officials isn’t easy, there are protocols and procedures that they have to follow. I honestly don’t know how Alec or Magnus can put up with it.”

“Exactly, it’s taking too long, they’ve been gone for hours. While they’re reporting to them who knows what Valentine is doing to my mother,” Clary growled.

“Isn’t there anything we can do to look for Jocelyn?” Simon asked as he came to stand beside Jace as he waved at the computers.

“That is what I’m doing,” she glared up at Jace, annoyed that all her hard work was being ignored, and said, “Why don’t you take Clary and go over some more fighting techniques? She is going to need it if she wants to help find her mother.”

Jace ignored her as he turned to Clary and said, “Izzy is looking into the demon attacks and trying to connect it to other demonic activities in the city to see if that could lead us to Valentine.”

“Really, you think you can do that?” Clary asked as she rushed over to them, pushing Simon out of the way.

“Unfortunately, no,” Izzy said as she spun her chair around to face them, “We don’t have enough information.”

“So, what you just wasted five hours looking for nothing,” she snapped as she glared at her, not letting her say anything she turned to Jace and cried, “We can’t just sit here and wait, anymore. Please, can’t we just go to the Silent Brothers now? I need to find my mother!”

“We have to wait for Alec and Magnus,” Izzy insisted.

Clary turned to glare at Izzy again before she turned back to Jace and pleaded, “Jace, there has to be something we can do?” She placed a hand on his chest and pouted up at him. She was a switch, one who leaned more towards the Dominant side, but she knew that Jace was showing an interest in her and she knew she could use this to her advantage. Stepping closer to him, she whispered, “Please.”

“Clary,” Jace sighed. He didn’t know what it was about this girl, but he had never felt this way about anyone before, and he didn’t want to say no to her. He turned to Izzy and said, “I guess it couldn’t hurt if we went to the City, Magnus and Alec could meet us there when they are finished.”

“Are you really talking about doing this?” Izzy uttered disbelievingly. “Alec…”

“Clary’s right,” Jace insisted, talking over Izzy as he tried to justify his actions, “She needs her memories back and we need the information she might have to find Valentine. Magnus and Alec might be mad at us at first, but they’ll get over it.”

“Okay,” Izzy shrugged. She stood up and crossed her arms, staring at him harshly. “But I’m pointing him in your direction when he learns about this.”

“He’ll be fine, he’ll understand,” he insisted, not sure he was trying to convince himself or his sister.

“Great,” Clary beamed at him, bouncing a little on the spot, “Let’s go.”

“We can take my van,” Simon offered.

“He’s not going to like this.” Izzy tried one last time.

“He’ll be fine.” Jace turned with a careless shrug and grabbed Simon’s sleeve, dragging him out of the Ops Centre. “Come on, follow me Mundie. Don’t want you stepping on the wrong rune.”

“Why?” he looked at him warily.

“They might kill you.” He shrugged.

“Wait, what?” He grasped Jace by the arm. “You’re kidding, right?” Swivelling around to look at Izzy he asked, “He’s kidding, right? Jace? Izzy?”

Jace just smirked as he led the boy out of the Institute.


	7. Chapter 7

Magnus sighed as he walked into his room and fell back onto the bed with a tired groan. The Shadow Council had not been happy that he hadn’t told them about the possible return of Valentine and the Circle, and they were not happy to find out about his involvement in hiding Jocelyn and Clary.

At the sound of the door opening he turned his head to watch as Alec entered the room. He gave him a smile as he crawled onto the bed and curled up beside him, burying his face in his neck.

“I take it your meeting went about as well as mine?” Magnus drawled as he ran his hand up and down his back.

“Oh, it was the usual. How could I let them go on this unsanctioned mission? Why was the mundane girl not reported right away, especially if she is related to Jocelyn and Valentine, and might know something about the Cup?” He sighed as he pulled back and rested his head on his hand. Looking down at Magnus he asked, “You?”

“About the same,” he nuzzled into the hand Alec ran through his hair. “Although I did get a lecture on how could I be so stupid as to get involved with Jocelyn in the first place,” he frowned as he added, “You should expect a call and lecture from them too, even though I explained to them that you were just a child when this all happened, so really you had nothing to do with it.”

“Are they…are they going to want to punish you?” Alec frowned down at him, not sure how he felt about that. He had never been in this position before. Magnus has a mischievous nature and liked causing trouble, especially when his youngest brother was around, but he had never done anything that he would have needed to be punished for and he wasn’t sure he could let someone else hand out that punishment, even a Clave or Council official.

“No,” he shrugged a little, “I think they just want to make a point about standing against Valentine together as a united front. What about you? Are you and the others in trouble with the Clave?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Alec sighed as he trailed his hand down Magnus’ neck to grip his collar, playing with the charms, “I think it’s the same as the Council, show their support to Downworlders and that they’ll fight against Valentine and his men.”

Magnus hummed as Alec used his collar to tip his head back and nuzzled into his neck, placing kisses along the collar until he rested his lips on his soulmate mark. He bit it lightly before he murmured against the mark, “I’m sorry our night was ruined.”

“Not your fault,” Magnus chuckled as he turned onto his side and nuzzled his nose along Alec’s neck, before planting kisses across Alec’s neck, tracing the deflect rune, “But I’m sure you can make it up to me, Sir.”

“Yeah.” Alec cupped his head and pulled him back up into a deep kiss before he pulled back and sighed sadly as he said, “Unfortunately it won’t be tonight. The Clave have issued orders for us to take the girl to the Silent Brothers and, whether she retrieves her memories or not, she’s to be brought back here to be questioned by a Clave representative.”

“The Clave is sending a representative?”

“Yes, and someone from the Council is coming too. They didn’t tell you?”

“No, I think they were too busy shouting at me about Jocelyn,” he grumbled.

Alec chuckled as he rolled off the bed and turned and helped Magnus up and off the bed, “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

He waited until Magnus had fixed his hair and makeup before he took his hand and led him out of their bedroom and through the Institute to the Ops Centre. He frowned as he couldn’t see Izzy. Glancing over to the training area he growled, frustrated, when he didn’t see Jace, Clary or even the mundane.

“Where are they?” he gritted and as he stormed into the Ops Centre.

“You don’t think they…” Magnus trailed off as Alec turned to stare at him, “Of course they did.”

“Daryl,” Alec snapped as he stormed over to the computers and asked, “When did my brother and the others leave?”

“I…I don’t…I’m…” he stammered as he shifted uncomfortably under Alec’s glare.

“Don’t worry sweetie, you’re not the one in trouble.” Magnus tried to calm the Dominant down.

“Magnus…” Alec growled at him.

“Do not growl at me.” Magnus scowled at him.

“Magnus, I’m sorry,” he said as he pulled the warlock to him and kissed his forehead. “I’m just…I’m worried that they’re getting themselves into trouble. I didn’t mean to take my anger out on you.”

“I know,” he said as he ran a soothing hand up and down his back, “Just don’t let it happen again.” He felt Alec nod and he leaned back and quickly kissed him before he stepped back and with a clap of his hands he spun back round to the Dominant and asked, “Now Alexander asked you where his wayward siblings and friends have gone?”

“They left about an hour ago,” another shadowhunter said as she stepped up to them. They turned to stare at the petite Submissive, who fought the urge to fidget under Alec’s glare.

“Alec.” Magnus placed his hand on the small of his back to try and calm him down.

Alec took a deep breath before he turned back to the Submissive. “I’m sorry Stephanie, I’m not having a very good day, but that doesn’t mean I have the right to snap at you, sorry.”

And he was sorry, he didn’t want to upset the Submissive shadowhunter, he liked Stephanie. She was a strong and tough shadowhunter that didn’t let anybody bully her simply because she was a Submissive. She was smart and competent, and she kept the Operation Centre running so smoothly he had no worries leaving it in her hands while he ran the Institute.

“That’s okay, I understand,” she smiled at him.

“Do you know where they went?” Magnus asked.

“Izzy was in here doing some research on the Circle and Valentine and other stuff for a couple of hours before Jace and the mundanes came in. They started to talk about going somewhere, I’m not sure where but the girl kept talking about how important it was that they needed to go, the boy offered to drive them.”

“That’s okay, I’ve got a fairly good idea,” Alec growled as he stormed over to the weapons cabinet and grabbed his bow and quiver. Throwing it across his shoulder he turned to Magnus and asked, “Can you make the portal?”

“Of course,” he nodded to Alec. He turned to the two shadowhunters and thanked them before he opened the portal and stepped through behind Alec.

He frowned as they stepped out from the portal, quickly closing it behind them. He turned to see Alec with his bow at the ready, he too sensing that something was wrong.

“Where are they?” Alec asked as he looked around.

From their spot under the old bridge they could see Simon’s van was abandoned beside some burnt out cars and vans, up the hill from the entrance of the Silent City. The doors were opened, light spilling out. Two bins, on either side of the van, had a fire burning in each, giving off a warm heat in the night’s cold chill. Magnus took a couple of cautions steps forward, magic glowing from his fingers as he scanned the trees and grass behind the van, looking for any clue as to where the others might be.

“They wouldn’t take the mundane in there, would they?” Magnus asked as he waved his hand at the entrance of the City.

“No, even they wouldn’t be that reckless,” Alec said as he followed Magnus over to Simon’s van, eyes scanning the area around the City and back behind them at the bridge and added, “And they wouldn’t have left the mundane out here alone.”

“No, they wouldn’t have,” Magnus agrees, “So, two went in and two stayed out, but what happened to the two that stayed out?”

“That’s what I want to know,” Alec said as he frowned at the entrance of the City, “Jace is in the City with Clary.”

Magnus nodded, he too could feel Jace’s unease at being in the City with the Brothers. He walked around the van and frowned as he saw something glinting in the grass. He walked over to it and cursed as he bent down and picked it up, “Alec!” he called out as he held up Izzy’s silver serpent bracelet.

“Can you track her?” he asked as he jogged over to him.

“Already on it.” Magnus nodded as he used the bracelet to locate Izzy. He started walking towards a grassy area. He pointed Alec to where Izzy was lying.

“Izzy!” Alec rushed over to her and pulled her up into his arms as he checked her over, “Are you okay?”

“Vampires,” she mumbled, leaning into him.

“What?”

“Vampires,” Magnus answered for her as he pointed up at the top of the bridge where two vampires stood, holding Simon upside down over the bridge. “Lily, what are you doing? He’s a mundane!”

“We want the Cup!” the male vampire shouted.

“Lily, don’t do this,” Magnus ignored the male as he looked to his friend, hoping she would listen to reason. “If you do this, if you hurt the mundane you will be breaking the Accords and I won’t be able to protect you, any of you.”

“I’m sorry, Magnus,” Lily said with a sad smile, “She wants the Cup and she’s going to do anything to get it.”

“Raph…”

“Doesn’t know we are here.” She interrupted him.

Magnus quickly checked on Alec helping a dazed Izzy stand up before he looked back up to the vampires.

“Lily, listen to me. Camille does not understand what she is messing with,” Magnus said. He flicked his fingers and blue sparks flickered from them as he snapped, “She is putting all of the Shadow World at risk.”

“We want the Cup. It’s that simple.” The other man pointed at Simon. “The mundane for the Cup.”

“Okay, I’ve had enough,” Magnus growled as his flicked his fingers at the vampire, his magic wrapping around the man’s throat as he ordered, “I am the High Warlock and I demand that you hand over the mundane.”

“Sorry, but we can’t do that,” the vampire said as he looked behind Magnus and shouted, “Now!”

Magnus released the vampire from his magic and spun around to see a group of vampires’ swarm Alec and Izzy. He began to make his way over to help only to gasp as he felt one of the abandoned cars hit his back. He looked up in shock as the vampire, the one that had been standing with Lily and holding Simon gripped him by the neck and held him in place. A burning pain radiated from his stomach, and he looked down in dazed shock to see a rusted piece of metal protruding from his torso. With a groan of pain, he raised his hand, snapping his fingers, only to gasp again as the vampire grabbed his arm and yanked it back down.

“Magnus!” Alec yelled as he thrust his blade through the chest of the last vampire attacking him. He quickly checked to make sure Izzy was holding her own with the last few vampires before he rushed over to the van where the vampire held Magnus.

The vampire growled as he gripped Magnus by the neck and spun them around to face Alec. His fingernails were digging into the warlock’s neck as he pulled his body tight against his own, using him as a shield.

“Let him go!” Alec gritted, his bow ready and pointed at them. He growled frustrated that he had no clear shot at the vampire, not without hitting Magnus.

“Like I said,” the vampire snarled digging his fingernails deeper into Magnus neck, tearing at his collar. He smiled at Magnus’ whimper of pain as he looked back at Alec and finished, “We want the Cup. You give it to us and we’ll give you back the mundane and the Warlock, if he survives.”

Magnus gave a soft whimper of pain as he slumped passed out, giving Alec the perfect opportunity to shoot an arrow through the vampire’s exposed neck. The vampire dropped Magnus in surprise and Alec shot another arrow through the vampire’s heart.

“Izzy!” Alec shouted as he dropped down beside Magnus and pulled him into his arms, checking his neck and stomach.

He must have passed out as the next thing he knew, fingers were prodding at his stomach. He jerked in pain and weakly glared at Izzy, who was crouched down and inspecting his wound.

“Sorry, sorry, Magnus,” she mumbled as she tried to see how bad the damage was.

“Al…Alec…” he mumbled weakly.

“I’m here, I’m here,” He cupped his face forcing him to look at him and taking his hand and said, “Baby, I’m right here, everything is going to be okay.” He turned to Izzy and watched as she inspected his stomach and asked, “Izzy?”

“It’s bad.” She said as she pressed down hard on his stomach.

“Hey, hey, you’re gonna be fine,” Alec said as he turned back to Magnus as he let out groans of pain, using his free hand to clutch at Alec’s shirt, “You’re going to be fine. Just take my strength, okay, take as much as you need to heal yourself.”

“Alec!” Izzy said at him, trying to gain his attention, “Alec, we need to get him back to the Institute.” When he still didn’t say anything, she snapped, “Alec!”

She gasped as he turned to her and she could see the naked fear in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, she calmly told him, “We need to get him back to the Institute. He’s losing blood quicker than he can draw strength from you.”

“Okay, okay,” Alec said, “How…we…”

“Alec!” Jace shouted as he and Clary ran up to them.

“Oh, my god, what happened?” Clary cried.

“We have to get back to the Institute.” Izzy insisted again.

“Jace, help me get him into the van,” Alec ordered, “The girl can drive us back to the Institute. I can call Catarina on the way, get her to meet us at there.”

“Can’t she meet us here?” Jace asked.

“She never been to the City, so she can’t make a portal here,” he bit out, “It’ll be quicker to meet her at the Institute.”

“Okay,” Jace said as he moved to help carry Magnus back to the van.

“Wait!” Clary cried as she looked around, “Where’s Simon?”

“The vampires took him.” Izzy said.

“What?!”

“The. Vampires. Took. Him.” Izzy spat out.

“And you… you just let them take him.” She cried.

“Not now, Clary.” Jace barked “Get in the van and drive us back to the Institute.”

“But…”

“Clary, Magnus will die if we don’t get him back,” Izzy snapped, “I’m sorry about Simon, I am, but Magnus has to come first.”

Alec’s hand snapped out and grabbed Clary’s and used it to pull her down close to him and glared at her as he growled, “You are going to help us carry him back to the van and then you will take us back to the Institute. If anything happens to him I will kill you and leave the mundane to rot with the vampires, do you understand me?” He waited until she nodded and her eyes dropped fearfully to Magnus, “Good, then move, now.”

They quickly lifted the injured warlock and carried him into the van. As soon as they laid him down he pushed the girl towards the front of the van and said, “Get in and drive. Get us there as quick as you can.”

She nodded and climbed into the front of the van as Jace climbed into the passenger seat beside her as he gave her instruction on the quickest way back.

In the back of the van Alec let go of Magnus hand and pulled out his phone and quickly found Catarina’s number and dialled. As soon as she answered he said, “Cat, I need you to meet us at the Institute, Mag…Magnus is hurt, bad.”

“Alec, I need you to breath and start again.” Catarina spoke with the ease of someone who was used to calming people down.

“Magnus is hurt. Izzy says that he is losing blood quicker than he can heal himself, so I need you to meet us at the Institute to heal him. Please, I can feel him taking my strength but he’s still so weak…”

“Okay, I’ll meet you there.” She hung up.

Alec let out a deep shuddering breath as he pocketed his phone, taking Magnus hand back in his and squeezing it tight.

Soon they were pulling up outside the Institute and carrying Magnus into the building. Catarina meet them outside the infirmary, dark skin paling at the sight of her old friend.

“Get him on the bed,” she ordered.

As soon as they had settled him on the bed she stood over him and inspected him, “Okay, Alec, you need to leave.”

“No, I’m not leaving him.” He snapped.

“Alec, you can’t be in here.” She tried to explain, “You know our magic is unpredictable when we heal, and he would want you to be safe.”

Alec silently looked at Magnus before he nodded and placed a kiss on his forehead. He looked up at Catarina and begged, “Please.”

Catarina nodded as she smiled and said, “You know I will do everything I can.”

Alec’s eyes never left Magnus as he let Izzy and Jace lead him out of the infirmary. As soon as the doors closed he collapsed onto the bench outside in the hallway, feeling weak and dizzy.

“Alec…” Jace began as he sat down beside him.

“Don’t,” Alec snapped as he held up his hands, seeing the blood covering them he growled, “Just don’t.”

“What do we do about Simon?” Clary asked, “You said you protected humans, well great job you guys did protecting Simon.” She turned to Izzy and snapped, “How could you let him be taken?”

Alec moved before anyone could stop him and had her pinned to the wall by her throat as he growled, “We didn’t let Simon get taken.” He grabbed her hand that was covered in Magnus blood and held it up, “This is your fault. If you had waited for me and Magnus then Izzy wouldn’t be hurt, Simon wouldn’t be with the vampires and Magnus wouldn’t be in there bleeding to death.” With one last glare, he let her go and watched as she slid to the ground, clutching her throat.

He spotted a passing shadowhunter and called out to them. “Graythorne,” he waited until he stopped and turned to him and said, “Are the representatives here yet?”

“No, Sir,” he said, “Shortly after you left they contacted us to let us know that they would be arriving sometime tomorrow afternoon.”

“Thank you,” he nodded and pointed to Clary as he said, “Take Ms. Fray to one of the guest bedrooms, keep her there until I come and collect her,” his eyes flicked to the girl still slumped on the ground before looking back at Graythorne and said, “Put a guard on her door. If she steps one foot out of the door I will hold you personally responsible.”

Graythorne nodded at him before he helped Clary to stand up and began to lead the protesting girl away, but paused as Alec reached out and grabbed the girl’s arm. He waited until she turned to him and told her, “If you step one foot out of your room, if you do anything that will endanger this Institute, I will lock you up in the City of Bones myself. Do you understand?”

Clary nodded silently at him before she turned to follow Graythorne.

“Alec.” Jace stepped up beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t,” Alec snapped as he jerked away from him, “Just don’t talk to me or touch me.”

“We didn’t mean for this to happen,” Jace protested.

“Alec, we can’t leave Simon with the vampires.” Izzy talked over Jace.

“He’ll will be fine,” Alec said absently, hand rubbing at his chest over his heart, “Raphael will keep him safe until we can go to the Dumort and get him.”

“But…”

“Look, the vampires violated the Accords when they took Simon.” He began to pace, still rubbing at his chest, “Raphael won’t let anything happen to the mundane, because he doesn’t want any trouble from us, no matter what Camille is up to, he won’t let any harm come to the mundane.”

“Alec…”

“No,” he snapped finally losing his patience as he turned and glared at them, “Just go away. Go write a report or something, just stay away from me and don’t…don’t do anything that will cause any more trouble or…make me have to confine you to your rooms with guards too.”

“Okay.” Jace nodded as she and Izzy shared a conspiring look as he began to pull Izzy out of the room.

“Jace,” Alec saw the look and called out before they leave, “I mean it, don’t do anything that that will cause any trouble. I won’t protect you from the Clave, not this time.”

“We promise,” Izzy said, with a quick look at his hands, she looked back up at him and said, “You should wash up,” before she turned and followed Jace out of the infirmary.

Alec watched them leave before he made his way to the small bathroom off to the side of the infirmary. After he washed his hands and tried to wash as much of his blood from his jacket and shirt he walked back out to the bench and sat down. Now that he had no distractions he could feel Magnus soul being ripped from his. He whimpered as he laid down on the bench and curled up in pain as he felt Magnus slipping away from him, clutching his wrist and watching his mark, waiting for it to turn grey.

He must have zoned out as he jumped when someone shook his shoulder and called his name.

“Cat,” he croaked as he pushed himself up, “How ...how is he?”

“He’s fine,” she smiled at him as she helped him sit up, “He’s fine, exhausted, but he will be fine. He’ll sleep throughout the rest of the night. Are you okay?”

“I could feel him dying.” Alec said, voice hoarse with pain.

“I know.” She nodded sadly as she added, “And you would have followed him, it’s the way of soulmates.”

“No, that…I want… I wanted that,” he whispered, “When I felt him dying I wanted to go with him, but it felt like my soul was ripping in two.”

“The parabatai bond,” she whispered in realization

“No shadowhunter with a mark has ever had a parabatai bond,” he said, eye on his mark, “Nobody knew how the two bonds would react to each other, so it was never allowed.”

“I know.” She nodded, her own eyes now dropped to his mark as she asked, “You think the parabatai bond is what stopped you from dying?”

“Yes,” he looked her in the eye, causing her to gasp as she saw the pain and fear reflected in them, “but I don’t want it to.” His eyes dropped to his mark as he began tracing it, “I love Jace, he’s my parabatai, my brother, and I know what my dying could do to him, Izzy and Max too, but I spent twenty years living with the loneliness, the constant ache of feeling him but not having him, thinking he was dead and I can’t …I can’t live like that again. I need Magnus and if he had died tonight, or if he…I will follow him.”

Cat just stared at him, unsure of what she should say, before she cleared his throat and said, “You can go in and see him.”

Alec simply stood up and walked past her into the infirmary, heading straight to Magnus’ bed. He sat down beside him and took his hand, running his free hand through his hair. His hand shook as he moved down to his bare neck, “Where’s his collar?”

“I’m…I’m sorry. I should have given it back to you,” she pulled out his collar and quickly repaired it as she explained, “It snapped as I was healing his neck.”

Once it was fixed she handed to back him and said, “I’ll leave you two to get some rest.”

Alec waited until she left and he was alone with Magnus before he put the collar back on him. He didn’t want Magnus to wake up without it. Alec laid down and curled up beside him protectively as he let exhaustion take him.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter has been updated and betad by the-eleventhfangirl
> 
> Sorry it's been so long with an update, but I'm back with a new chapter and I'm sending chapter nine to my beta today. Also want to say that the previous chapters have been betaed and there have been some changes but not a lot to affect the story.
> 
> Hope you enjoy and thanks for waiting.

 

Jace stalked out of the infirmary and made his way to the Ops Centre.

“What are you doing?” Izzy asked as she followed him over to one of the computer banks.

“Seeing if we have anything on the Hotel DuMort,” he said as he began to research.

“But Alec told us…”

“Alec is preoccupied with Magnus,” Jace said, not taking his eyes off the computer, “We can’t leave Simon with the vampires.”

“Jace, I don’t know,” Izzy bit her lip, worried, “We promised Alec we wouldn’t do anything.”

“No, you promised. There’s nothing useful here,” he huffed as he pushed away from the computer and looked up at her, “Look, the vampires broke the Accords. They kidnapped Simon, a Mundie. The Clave will give us a lecture, but they’ll be glad that we did it.”

“Hard to argue with that,” Izzy agrees, before she frowned at him and said, “Even if we go ahead with this, how are we going to get out of here, and what about weapons? We can’t let anyone see us get them.”

“I know where to get weapons,” Jace said, “Our biggest problem is getting into the hotel.”

“I can see Meliorn? See if he can help,” Izzy offered.

“Great, now we need to figure out how to get Clary out of her room.”

“You want to take her with us?” she asked, shocked.

“Of course,” he shrugged as he stood up and began making his way to the private residential areas, “Simon’s her best friend, she has a right to be there to help him.”

“This is a rescue mission,” she frowned at him, “She isn’t trained. She’ll be a liability.”

“Look, she’s had a few hours of training with me and we can give her some more crash course training, enough that she would be able to defend herself. Besides, I think Simon will trust us more if she was with us,” he finished as he stepped in front of Clary’s door and nodded to the guard stood there, “Blackwood.”

“Wayland.” The man in question nodded back, arms crossed.

“We’re here to take Clary,” Jace said.

“I was ordered not to let her out of the room unless Alec came for her,” he replied.

“Alec sent us,” Izzy smiled at him, “We’re to take her on a simple recon mission. Get her training started.”

“I wasn’t told…”

“It was approved by Alec,” Izzy interrupted him. “He told us to tell you because he obviously didn’t want to leave his injured submissive.”

“No, of course,” Blackwood nodded, his hand briefly touching the chain that held the key to his own sub’s collar before he looked to Jace and said, “Then I guess she’s all yours, Wayland.”

Jace just nodded at him as he stepped past him and stepped into Clary’s room, Izzy a step behind him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as soon as she saw them.

“We’re going to get Simon,” Jace answered.

“Finally,” she said as she stood up from her bed and walked over to them, “What’s the plan?”

“First we need to get out of the Institute.” Jace crossed his arms.

“That’s simple, we just leave through the front door. If anyone stops us, we just tell them what we told Blackwood,” Izzy shrugged as she led them out of the room, “We’ve been ordered to take Clary on a training mission.”

They quickly and quietly made their way out of the building, luckily with nobody stopping them.

“Now, where are we going?” Clary asked.

“We need weapons,” Jace told her.

“You’re not trained to use weapons and for what is supposed to be a simple recon training mission all Jace and I would bring would be our seraph blades and my whip,” she explained as she held up her wrist to show her bracelet, “Luckily we still have them with us, but they’re not going to be enough against a vampire clan.”

“So where do we get weapons?” Clary asked.

“There will be a stash of weapons at the church,” Jace said.

“Why would there be Shadowhunter weapons stashed in a church?” Clary asked as she followed them down the street.

“Because all ancient religions recognise demons,” Izzy explained, “Or at least they used to.”

“They forgot the threat because we’ve been there to protect them.” Jace’s tone was smug and arrogant. “We know our ancestors stashed a cache of weapons here somewhere.”

As they entered the church graveyard he turned to Izzy and asked, “Whose grave is it?”

“Mary Milligan, born January 10th, 1802, died January 10th, 1878.”

“Let’s look around,” Jace said.

“I’ve always wondered where my dad was buried,” Clary said as she looked around the graveyard, “I hoped that Magnus was lying or that he was mistaken, but what I saw from the brothers…it just confirmed what he said, Valentine is my father.” She gave a pained huff as she added, “When I was younger I used to wish my father was still alive. Be careful what you wish for, right?”

“This isn’t your fault,” Jace said, as he took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

“Guys, I found it,” Izzy called out, interrupting them.

They walked over to join her at the tomb. Clary knelt and began to clear the moss away from the engravings and read aloud, “Mary Milligan, beloved servant.” She stood up and asked, “Who wants that on their headstone?”

“Someone who is in the service to a cause greater than themselves,” Izzy answered.

“Abracadabra.” Jace pulled out his stele.

“What? You guys really say that?” Clary asked.

“No, Clary, we don’t.” Izzy rolled her eyes.

Jace drew his stele over the Angelic rune, unlocking the tomb, allowing the three of them to push the lid to the side, revealing an old chest. Jace opened the chest to reveal seraph blades and daggers. Clary picked up a blade and smiled as it began to glow.

“Careful,” Izzy chided her, “You don’t know what you’re doing with that.”

“What, like at the club? Where I killed that demon?” she smirked at her.

“You didn’t kill that demon,” she scoffed at her, “That was us and pure luck on your part.”

Her phone pinging interrupted them and she smirked as she read it, “Excellent, he’s home.” and turned to walk away.

“Where are you going?” Clary asked.

“I gotta find a way in to the vampire’s lair,” she said, “I’ll be back. Listen to what Jace teaches you.” She smiled, turned, and walked away.

Jace spent the next few hours teaching Clary some basic defensive moves with the blade and fighting techniques, until finally, Izzy texted them a location of where to meet her.

“Izzy!” Jace called as he and Clary climbed the stairs.

“Where are we?” Clary asked.

“It’s an old meatpackers service entrance,” Izzy explained as she led them further into the warehouse, “If we go back there, we come up into the basement of the Hotel DuMort.”

“Good work, Izzy.” Jace smiled at her.

“So, what exactly is the plan?” Clary asked.

“Give me your arm,” Jace said, taking the arm that Clary held out and began to draw a rune as he explained, “This is for silence, so that the vampires can’t hear you coming. We can’t disguise the scent of our blood, so once we enter the building the vampires are going to know we’re there. We need to prepare for when we run into any vampires.” He nodded to her jacket and waited until she had shrugged it off her shoulder before he began to draw another rune, “Vampires have an ability called encanto. It allows the vampires to put you into a sort of trance.”

“It’s kinda like what a cobra does to a mouse right before it strikes,” Izzy said as she activated her own runes, “This will keep you from falling into a trance.”

“How do we find Simon?” She asked.

“He’ll be in the most secure room,” Jace said. “Trust me, you’ll know it when we see it.”

“What if…will they…”

“He’ll be fine,” Izzy assured her, “Alec was right about that. Raphael won’t let anyone hurt him. He doesn’t want a war between our people.”

“But…”

“Shush,” Jace said before he turned to her and asked, “You remember what I taught you?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“Good. Izzy and I will try and keep the most of them off you.”

“This must be the way in,” Izzy said as she walked over to a large door and opened it. She quickly closed it again when a group of vampires charged at them. Leaning against the door as they slammed against it, she panted, “I knew it was going too smoothly.”

Jace and Clary ran and helped Izzy hold the door closed.

“Any day now.” Izzy spat as Jace searched his pockets for his stele.

“Yeah, if you two could keep the door shut,” he snapped back, finally finding his stele and pulling it out of his pocket and tried to draw the locking rune on the door. After the third attempt he gritted, “It’s not taking.”

Izzy grabbed her blade and walked over to a pipe, slashing at the pipe to cut off a piece and slide it between the handle and another pipe, blocking the door, “Who ever said the ‘pen is mightier than the sword’ was an idiot.” She smirked at them.

“Good work.” Jace smirked back at her.

Once they were sure that the door was somewhat secure they moved back from the door to the middle of the room, Clary between them as they readied themselves to fight.

“How long do you think it’ll hold?” Jace asked.

“So much for sneaking in.” Izzy grumbled, ignoring Jace’s question as the pipe broke and the door burst open and the vampires rushed them.

Soon the vampires were gone and Jace turned to search for Clary, sighing in relief when he found her unharmed.

“I killed him,” she said smiling at him.

“Yeah, and just think what you’ll be like with some training,” he told her, smiling proudly.

“We still have to get Simon.” Izzy turned her back on them and made her way through the door that the vampires crashed through, Clary and Jace jogging to catch up with her.

They snuck through the rest of the hotel, killing all the vampires that they came across until they made their way into a large opulent room. They stood frozen at the entrance, shocked at what they saw.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betad by the-eleventhfangirl

 

 

Magnus moaned a little as he began to wake up. He opened his eyes to find Catarina hovering over him.

“Hey, you’re awake,” she smiled at him as she knelt beside him and ran a hand through his hair, careful not disturb Alec. “How are you feeling?”

“A little sore.” He coughed, his throat dry.

“Here,” she said as she held up a cup of water and helped him to drink.

“Thanks,” he mumbled as he shifted a little, being careful not to wake Alec up as he asked, “How long?”

“A couple hours.” She smiled at him again as she nodded at Alec and said, “He’s been here the entire time.”

“I wouldn’t expect him to be anywhere else.”

“And I wouldn’t be anywhere else.” Alec’s voice caused the two warlocks to jump and turn to look at him.

Catrina smiled as she stood up and said, “Well, now that you’re awake and I can see you’re going to be in good hands I’m going to go back to my real job.”

“Thank you.” Alec smiled, looking to her briefly before he looked back at Magnus.

“Yes, thank you.” Magnus nodded at her.

“You’re welcome,” she smiled back as she bent back over and kissed his forehead as she whispered, “Don’t scare me like that again.” She straightened back up and with a nod at Alec she added, “And don’t do anything that will scare him like that again, either.”

“I’ll try not to.” He looked at Alec as he responded, missing the look of concern that flashed through her eyes as she remembered what Alec had told her earlier. She stood and watched them silently for a few seconds as she debated whether she should tell Magnus or not. Deciding that it would be best if Alec told him himself, she silently turned and left the pair alone.

Neither man noticed when she stepped back and spoke briefly with another healer before she left through a portal.

“I, ah, I’m sorry.” Magnus whispered nervously, avoiding his dominant’s eye.

“What…why are you sorry?” Alec asked, frowning at him.

“I turned my back on a threat,” he tried to explain, “I saw the vampires attacking you and Izzy and I trusted Lily and I turned my back on them to try and help you.”

“Magnus, baby it’s okay,” he said as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to sooth him, “It’s not your fault. I trusted Lily too.”

“Camille has gone too far this time,” he said as he snuggled into Alec. With a small yawn he added, “This will give the Clave and the Council all it needs to enter the Hotel and arrest her, getting further evidence that we need for our investigation on her.”

“Yeah,” Alec nodded, kissing his forehead he pulled Magnus closer and said, “We can deal with that later. Right now, I want you to get some more rest.”

“Okay,” he sighed as he fell back asleep, Alec quickly following.

He woke again as one of the healers was checking on Magnus.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispered.

“What…what time is it?” he asked, as he waved away her concern.

“A little after one in the morning.” With a quick nod at Magnus she added, “Catarina was happy with his progress, said that he was free to go when he next woke up.”

“Thank you,” Alec said.

She smiled and gave him a small nod before she turned and walked back to the office.

Alec watched as she walked away before he turned back to Magnus. He brushed his hair back and kissed his forehead before he gently climbed out of the bed, making sure he didn’t wake his mate. He gave him one last kiss before he turned and made his way out of the infirmary.

He knew Magnus would be angry that he was going to do this without him but he knew Camille, and he knew her history with Magnus and that despite the bad feeling between the two he still cared deeply for the vampire and he wanted to protect him from both Camille herself and having to be the one to go and arrest her.

He quickly made his way to their quarters, had a quick shower and got dressed. He went by Izzy and Jace’s rooms. Not finding them there, he went to the kitchen, gulped down a cup of coffee and grabbed an apple as he made his way to the Ops Centre to look for his brother and sister.

“Stephanie,” he greeted as he joined her at the computers.

“Morning Alec,” she smiled up at him, “The Representatives sent word that they are running a little behind schedule and that they would be arriving late in the afternoon.”

“Thanks.” He threw the apple core in the bin, “Where are Izzy and Jace?”

“They’re still out on the training mission you sent them out on with the mundane.” She frowned up at him.

“Right, yes. I forgot.” He nodded as he quickly came up with an excuse, “With Magnus and everything that happened, it just slipped my mind.”

“Of course,” she nodded, “How is Magnus?”

“He’s fine now. Still sleeping,” he said, before asking, “How long have they been out?”

“They’ve been gone a couple of hours.”

“Right, thanks.” He nodded, “I have to go out and take care of some things. If Magnus wakes up or if the Representatives get here before I or the others get back, explain to them that we’re out on a training exercise.”

She studied him for a few moments. She knew something was wrong and that it involved the mundane girl that Jace had brought in the night before, but not knowing what it was she simply nodded and said, “Okay.”

“Thank you,” he smiled at her before he walked over to the weapons cabinet and took out his bow, quiver, and seraph blade. He was going to kill them. As he made his way out of the Institute and began the trek to the Hotel DuMort he called Izzy and Jace, cursing and coming up with new and inventive ways in which to kill them. With a final curse, he dialled another number, praying that they would answer.

“Alec, what the hell,” Raphael snapped, “Why are shadowhunters attacking the hotel? You know I would have helped you with the mundane.”

“I know,” Alec sighed as he began to explain, “I’m sorry. Izzy and Jace acted without my knowledge or approval. Magnus was badly injured and they snuck out while I was with him.”

“Damnit,” Raphael muttered. Alec could hear some scuffling in the background, “I …I have to go.”

He groaned, hanging up his phone and pocketing it. He readied his bow when he saw the hotel come into view. He snuck into the hotel, incapacitating any vampires that he came across as he made his way through the hotel.

“Alec, it’s safe, you can come in. Camille is gone,” Raphael said as soon as he smelt Alec outside the room he and Simon were in.

“Alec!” Simon cried happily as he stepped into the room, he grunted in pain as he fell to the floor as Raphael pushed him away from him.

Alec rolled his eyes as he held out a hand to pull him up as he smirked at Raphael, “Really!”

“He’s annoying. Doesn’t stop talking.” Raphael huffed as he straightened his jacket.

“Yeah, I’ve learned that too.” He smirked at him.

“How is papa?” Raphael asked, ignoring the other boy’s grumbling.

“He’s fine, back at the Institute resting,” Alec assured him.

“Uh, guys?” Simon questioned their friendly nature.

“Relax, Simon, I’m here to rescue you.”

“Right!” he said as he backed away from them.

Alec snorted as he grabbed his arm, stopping him from moving away as he glared at him, “Don’t move. You and the others not listening to me in the first place is what got you into this mess.”

“I…we…”

“Are Jace and the others close?” he asked Raphael, ignoring the submissive.

Raphael nodded. “They’re close. I can help you get out of here,” he added.

“I appreciate that,” Alec smiled at him, before he asked, “How bad is it?”

“I’m not sure yet until I can talk to my people, but they’ve killed many vampires.” He reluctantly admitted, “I had to let Camille go, she still has many vampires that are loyal to her here and I couldn’t risk her finding out we were betraying her.”

“I understand.” Alec took a breath, before asking, “How many killed were loyal to you?”

“Not sure yet,” he said with a nod to Simon he finished, “As soon as Lily brought him here, she found me and told me what Camille had done. I knew you and Magnus would come for them, so we sent word to be prepared.”

“I thought Lily was one of yours. Why was she helping Camille?” Alec asked.

“Camille has begun to question some of our loyalty recently,” Raphael explained, “Lily had to do what she thought was best to keep Camille from questioning her. She did her best in keeping the mundane safe. We knew you would come for him, but we thought it would be in a more official capacity, especially for Camille.”

“That was the plan,” Alec growled, “Jace and Izzy thought that they knew better and acted on their own.”

“They’re here,” Raphael said, just as Izzy and the others ran into the room.

“Simon!” Clary cried.

“Clary!” Jace said as he grabbed her arm to stop her running to her friend, “Wait!”

“Alec! What …what are you doing here?” Izzy asked, surprised and wary at seeing her brother there.

“Stopping all of you from starting a war,” he snapped at her. He turned back to Raphael and asked, “Can you show us the way out of here?”

“Of course, I’ve had enough of your friends for one day,” he said.

“Where is Camille?” Jace growled.

“Gone,” Alec snapped, “She escaped because of you.”

“Alec…”

“We have to go.” Raphael interrupted Izzy, sensing some approaching vampires.

“Let’s go.” Alec grabbed Simon and began to drag him after Raphael.

“Are we just supposed to trust him?” Jace snapped.

Alec spun around and glared at the blonde as he snapped, “Yes, you know what Raphael means to Magnus and besides that you know that he has always worked with us to protect the peace between us.”

“But…”

“Let’s. Go.” Alec barked as he turned and dragged Simon out of the room.

Raphael quickly led them up to the roof of the hotel. He pointed to a door at the end of the corridor and stayed in the shadows as Jace and Izzy opened it, sunlight streaming into the narrow corridor.

“Thank you,” Simon turned to him, “Seriously thank…”

“I’m not doing this for you,” he snapped, “As Alec said, I just want to keep the peace between our people.”

“I know, and I will make sure that the Clave and Council know that you and your people had nothing to do with Camille’s plan and tried to help.”

Raphael nodded and stepped back further into the shadows as they turned to leave. He called out to Alec, adding, “Tell papa that I still expect dinner tomorrow.”

“We might be busy tomorrow with the Clave and Council, but I promise we’ll have dinner soon.” Alec turned and followed the others out the door.

Simon was being pulled into a hug by Clary and talking quietly with each other as he stepped onto the roof and ensured that the door was safely closed. Izzy and Jace stood near them, Izzy smirking at Jace as he watched the other two jealously.

“What the hell do you think you were doing!” Alec snapped as he turned around to glare at them.

“We were doing what we had…”

“No, what you had to do was follow the very simple orders that I gave you,” Alec interrupted Jace.

“The vampires broke the Accords!” Jace shouted back.

“No, Camille broke the Accords and thanks to you and your ridiculous rescue attempt she escaped,” Alec growled and glared at them as he added, “You ruined two months of hard work and by attacking the hotel you destroyed any reason we had of legally getting into the hotel without starting a war.”

“What?” Izzy frowned at her brother, confused.

“Raphael came to the Institute a couple of months ago. He wanted our help to bring down Camille,” he began explaining, “Raphael believed that she had been killing mundanes and making unstable nests all over the city. He knew it was only a matter of time before the Clave or Council found out, and to protect his clan he began working with Magnus and the Council in investigating Camille. We could have used Camille kidnapping Simon as a way to get into the hotel, peacefully and without killing anybody, to rescue Simon and arrest her.”

“How come I didn’t know about this?” Jace demanded.

“Because despite what you think Jace, you are not the Head of the Institute and you don’t have the clearance. It was a Council-led investigation, I was only kept informed because it was happening in my city.”

“If you had explained…” Izzy flinched back as he turned to glare at her.

“I ordered you to stay in the Institute,” he snapped, “I’m sorry I was a little distracted by my submissive dying to go into details for you, but then again I guess it was stupid of me to think that you would actually listen to me when I give an order.” With a bitter chuckle he added, “that you would respect me as your leader.” He ignored her as he turned to Simon and said, “Go home, and I’m assuming I don’t need to tell you not tell anybody about this,” he waited until the boy gave a shaky nod before saying, “We need to get back to the Institute before the representatives get there.”

“Alec…”

“Leave it, Izzy,” he sighed. He turned and began walking away, calling over his shoulder, “I would like to get back before Magnus wakes up.”

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betad by the-eleventhfangirl

 

Magnus gave a quiet moan as he stretched out in the bed, frowning as he realised that Alec wasn’t in bed with him. He sat up and looked around the infirmary searching for him.

“How are you feeling, Magnus?” Toshiko, the healer from earlier, asked him as she walked over to his bed.

“Good,” he smiled at her. He liked Toshiko, she was one of the healers that he worked with the most here when he worked in the infirmary sometimes helping heal their wounded, he helped so often he had his own space for his potions and ingredients as well as an office in the back. “Where’s Alexander?”

“He woke up a couple of hours ago,” she explained, “I think he and the others went out on a mission.”

“Of course he is.” He gave a little chuckle.

He had an idea just what mission he was on. He knew Alec was just trying to protect him, and while a part of him was grateful that he wouldn’t be there for Camille’s arrest, there was a small part of him that needed to be there to see that she really was gone.

“So, am I free to go?” he asked her as he began to climb out of bed.

“Yes, your free,” she laughed before she added, “But do try to stay out of trouble, wouldn’t want Maryse to have reasons to celebrate.”

Magnus snorted as she smirked at him before she turned and walked into the office. He stretched and then frowned at the drab hospital clothes Catarina had changed him into, with a click of his fingers he changed into some new clothes and freshened up his makeup and hair.

He left the infirmary and made his way to the Ops Centre in hopes of finding someone to tell him about the mission to arrest Camille.

“Hello, Stephanie,” he greeted as he walked over to her at the computers.

“Morning, Magnus. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Thank you,” he smiled at her before he frowned as he looked around the room. For what he assumed would be a big mission for both the Institute and the Council the place was awfully quiet. He turned to her as he asked, “Where’s Alexander?”

“He had some things he had to take care of, didn’t say when he would be back.”

“Are Jace and Izzy with him?”

“No, they took the girl Jace brought in the other night on a training mission,” she smirked slyly up at him as she asked, “Who is she…”

“Are the Representatives here yet?” he broke in, he felt a little bad at cutting her off. He liked her, she was a collared submissive who reminded him of a dear friend who had passed years ago, and he loved to gossip with her over a glass of wine, but he didn’t have time to gossip as he had a feeling that Izzy and Jace were out causing some trouble, again.

“No, they said they would be here later.” She said.

“Okay,” he nodded, “I’ll be in my office, can you let me know when Alexander or the representatives get here.”

“Of course,” she nodded and as he was about to leave the centre she called out to him, “Magnus, this morning we received a request from Maryse Lightwood to visit the Institute for Clave business today, I’ve tried to get in contact with Alec but his phone keeps ringing out and Maryse keeps sending in requests.”

Magnus rolled his eyes as he nodded, everyone knew that Maryse had to give at least twenty-four hours’ notice for permission to come to the Institute, “Do you have the requests?”

Stephanie nodded and handed him a tablet, he quickly scanned the request and frowned at their vagueness but he did smile at the mention of Max. He handed the tablet back as he said, “Tell her she can come, she’s bringing Max so I know that Alexander wouldn’t say no to that.”

She nodded and bit her lip as she added, “There is something I think you might be interested in seeing.” she waited until he nodded and said, “The New York werewolf pack is acting a little strange.”

“Strange?”

“I had Kenny,” she nodded to man in the back as she finished, “Look over the reports that we were getting and he said it looked like they were hunting, what we don’t know.”

“Luke.” He muttered as he sighed, “I can’t believe that I forgot about Luke.” He turned to her and said, “I think I know what’s going on with them. Keep track of their activity, but don’t do anything just now, let me make a few phone calls and find out what is going on.”

“Okay,” she nodded before she looked up at him and asked, “Are the rumours true. Is the Circle back.”

“Yes, yes we believe that they are.” He sighed sadly.

“Is it also true that all the warlocks in New York have left for the Labyrinth?”

“Yes, my warlocks were being hunted by the Circle so I sent them to the Labyrinth.”

“As well as their Shadowhunter partners?” when Magnus nodded she asked, “What about other Downworlders and their Shadowhunter partners?”

“Right now, only Downworlders collared by warlocks are being offered sanctuary,” he explained, “Once we know what’s really happening, we’ll discuss what to do then, but we can’t run and hide from Valentine…” he was cut as his phone rang. He pulled out of his pocket and frowned as he saw Alec’s name, he answered, “Alec…”

“Magnus, where are you?” he broke in urgently.

“I’m still at the Institute.” He answered worried at the urgency in Alec’s tone. “What’s wrong?”

“We’ve been attacked by werewolves. Luke’s been injured, he’s hurt. We need your help.”

“Okay, where are you?” he asked as he walked out of the Ops Centre and made his way to the infirmary.

“At the docks, behind Jade Wolf.”

“Okay, I can’t open a portal near the water, can you get to where I open the portal when we visit the Jade Wolf?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, he heard him tell the others what was happening in the background, before he came back to the phone, “Open the portal.”

“Done.” He said before hung up and with a wave his hands he opened the portal and waited for them to come through. Finally, Alec and Jace stumbled through with Luke held between them, as they fell to the floor Izzy and Clary stumbled through after them.

“Luke!” Magnus gasped as quickly closed the portal and rushed to him and helped them carry Luke over to one of the beds.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betad by the-eleventhfangirl

 

 

Alec ignored his sister and brother as they called out to him as he walked along the roofs to head back to the Institute. He didn’t want to answer them, didn’t want to get into another argument or fight with them. He just wanted to get home to Magnus.

“Alec, you can’t ignore us forever.” Izzy snapped.

 _Wanna bet_ , he thought bitterly as he jumped form one building to another, not caring if the mundane was able to follow him or not. In fact, considering he told the boy to go home he would have preferred it if he didn’t follow them back to the Institute, just another order they ignored.

He knew Jace and Izzy loved him, they were family, but sometimes he doubted they respected him as their leader. He frowned as he felt a tingling feeling on the back of his neck. He had been feeling it for the past few blocks, but had dismissed it as he thought it was just the others following behind him, but as he climbed down the fire escape he was sure he saw something from the corner of his eye. Stepping into the alleyway he deglamoured his bow and quiver, nocking an arrow he scanned the area.

“Alec?” Izzy questioned as she came up beside him.

“We’re being tracked,” he said as he let loose his arrow, cursing as it missed the wolf that ran down the alley.

“Why would werewolves be tracking us?” she asked as she got her whip ready.

“I don’t know, but I think they’ve been tracking us for a couple of blocks now,” Alec readied his bow and began to walk down the alley, “And if I had to guess, I’d say they were following us for the same reason as the vampires took the mundane.”

“You think they’re after the Cup too?” Jace asked as he and the others followed him.

“Why not,” Alec shrugged, “We know that relations between vampires and wolves have been tense recently. If they learned about the Cup like the vampires, then they’re going to do everything they can to get it and to stop the vampires from getting it.”

“What…what do we do?” Simon asked as he looked around nervously.

Alec stood at the end of the alley and looked up and down the street before he turned back and walked back to the others, “We have to get back to the Institute.”

“If they attack us won’t they be breaking the Accords?” Clary asked.

“I don’t they think they care,” Alec drawled with a roll of his eyes, “We should split up.”

“What? No!”

“It’s our best option,” he talked over his sister as he explained, “The wolves have our scent, we won’t be able to lose them. If we spilt up, you two could lead them in the opposite direction of the Institute before they realised that we aren’t with you as I lead the two mundanes back to the Institute.”

“I should be with Clary,” Jace insisted.

Alec glared at him. He was done with Jace and his disrespect, gritting through his teeth, “Fine, whatever.”

“Alec, wait!” Jace shouted as he walked away.

“Why?” he called over his shoulder, “You’ve already shown you don’t respect me as your leader, why should I be surprised you don’t trust me with your mundane’s safety.”

“Alec, wait that’s not…”

Alec stopped and raised his bow, arrow nocked, as he slowly backed up the alley towards the others, “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter anymore,” he watched the two wolves stalk towards them.

“There’s another three behind us.” Izzy backed up against her brother, whip ready.

Alec watched the two approaching wolves closely trying to see which one was in charge. His eyes locked onto the wolf with dark brown fur to his left as it began to fall back letting the other one take the lead.

“We don’t have the Cup.” Alec kept his eyes locked onto the brown wolf’s, trying to diffuse the tense situation he quickly added, “We don’t know where it is but if…”

“Why are you talking to them,” Jace growled, “They’re just animals. They won’t understand.”

“Jace!” Izzy snapped, shocked at his attitude.

“Quiet!” Alec snapped, he wasn’t as shocked as his sister, knowing Jace's history.

“We can work…” he was cut off as the white wolf in front of him growled and took a step forward before it lunged at them. Alec shot an arrow at the wolf and quickly got another ready as the rest of the wolves began to attack.

The Shadowhunters were soon immersed in the fight. Alec was quick to stow away his bow and brought out his blade for close contact fighting. He tried to keep the others in sight and cursed when he got separated from the others as he was cornered by the white wolf. The wolf lunged at him, he raised his blade and slashed the wolf across the stomach. The wolf whined as it collapsed on top of him. Alec pushed the wolf off him, as he stood up he looked around for the others. He saw that they had been pushed further back into the alley and that the wolves had separated the mundanes from Jace and Izzy. They were fighting off two wolves while the third stood guard over the mundanes.

Even as Alec began to make his way over to them he saw Clary try and brandish her seraph blade at the wolf, but it simply grabbed her arm and pushed her to the ground. Simon tried to help her up but he jumped back as the wolf turned to him and growled. Alec brought out his bow and fired an arrow at the wolf. The wolf, sensing the shot, jumped out of the way, but having nowhere in the alley to go it grabbed Simon and jumped through the nearest broken window of one of the buildings.

“Simon!” Clary screamed as she quickly got to her feet and climbed through the window after them.

“Clary!” Jace shouted as he stabbed the wolf he was fighting and jumped into the building, leaving Izzy with the last two wolves.

Alec rolled his eyes at his brother’s actions, making his way over to help his sister, when he hears the wolf that he had injured before growl behind him. He spun around, raising his blade just as the wolf lunges at him. He manages to clip the wolf in the back leg. The wolf limped as it went to jump Alec again but he spun and used his bow to knock the wolf back. The wolf whined as it landed in the garbage cans. It slowly picked itself up, shaking out the rubbish out of its fur as it stalked its way back to him. Alec brandished his blade ready for the next lunge but he cautiously lowered his blade as he saw the wolf hesitate before it turned around and ran.

He quickly raised his bow and let his last arrow go and cursed when it missed the wolf. He turned back to go and help his sister but he saw that she and the last two wolves were gone. He started to make his way back when he heard Simon shouting from the street. He ran out of the alleyway and saw Simon being pushed into the back of a car before it drove off.

“Dammit,” he snarled as he watched the car drive off, before turning and running back up the alley and climbing through the broken window that Simon had been thrown through.

He saw Jace and Clary fighting the last wolf and quickly scanned the building for Izzy. Seeing her slumped against the back wall he jogged over to her and checked her over as he asked, “You okay?”

She nodded as she patted him on the shoulder as she reassured him, “I’m fine.”

“Simon!” Clary shouted as she looked around wildly for him, “Simon!?”

“The mundane got himself kidnapped again,” Alec sighed as he walked over to them.

“What!” she snapped at him as she turned to glare at him.

“He was being pushed into the back of a car, it drove off before I could stop it,” he snapped back, before he scoffed and turned to Jace, “This is great. First you let the mundane get kidnapped by vampires, helped cause the most vicious vampire to go on the run, almost get my submissive killed and now, now you let the mundane get kidnapped again, only this time by werewolves, and we don’t even know by which pack. This is fan-freaking-tastic. Are you planning to destroy all our alliances today or do you plan to leave some for tomorrow?”

“Alec, not now.” Jace was nearly shouting.

“Why? Are you worried I’m going to upset the little girl?” he snapped back.

“Her name is Clary.”

“I don’t care,” he snarled, “All I care about is that ever since she came into our lives nothing has gone right.”

“That’s not her fault,” Jace growled.

“Are you kidding me? It is all her fault.” He shouted, “We don’t know anything about her and you two just blindly trust her. All we know about her is that she is Valentine’s daughter. How do we know that she’s not actually working for him, and that this isn’t some sort of trap?”

“Magnus knows her.” Jace continued defending Clary.

“Yes, and Magnus was conveniently almost killed last night,” he growled.

Izzy rolled her eyes at her two arguing brothers, spotting Simon’s glasses on the floor. She walked over and picked them up, stepped between her brothers and snapped, “We don’t have time for this,” she shoved the glasses into Jace’s hand and added, “Use these to track Simon.”

Jace shot Alec one last glare before he took the glasses from her and activated his tracking rune. He paced as he concentrated on finding Simon.

“What is he doing?” Clary asked.

“He’s tracking Simon,” Alec told her, “Be quiet and keep your distance.”

“He can use Simon’s glasses to pinpoint his location,” Izzy explained.

With a frustrated grunt, he turned to Alec and growled, “The signal’s not strong enough. Let’s do this.”

Alec let out an annoyed grunt and with an eye roll he walked over to Jace and held out his hand for Jace to draw the tracking rune on before he clasped the glasses between their hands. Their hands glowed as they concentrated.

“What are they doing?” Clary asked as she watched them.

“Parabatai tracking,” Izzy explained, “When parabatai track, their powers grow stronger. Jace and Alec are gonna track Simon together.”

“No offense, but this parabatai bond seems oddly intimate if you ask me,” Clary said as she watched jealously.

“It is,” Izzy smiled as she watched her brothers, “It’s two warriors bound by an oath that binds a piece of their souls together, sharing their strength and power.”

“Binding their souls together, like soulmates?” she asked with a frown.

“No, soulmates, like Alec and Magnus, share a much deeper and emotional connection, they share a heart and soul. The parabatai bond is a connection between two people.”

“Wh…”

“I’ve got him,” Jace pulled away from Alec, “He’s being held in some restaurant near the docks….”

“The Jade Wolf,” Alec finished for him as he began to make his way out of the alley, “It’s a werewolf den.”

“How do you know it’s a werewolf den?” Izzy asked as she walked to catch up with him.

“I’ve met with the Alpha for Clave and Council meeting,” he shrugged as he added, “Plus, Magnus and I’ve had a couple of dates there.”

They quickly made their way to the docks and huddled behind some shipping containers.

“That’s the Jade Wolf.” Alec pointed to an old run-down building.

“That’s a restaurant?” Izzy asked as she frowned at the slightly run-down building.

“The food is surprisingly good.” Alec shrugged.

“Guys!” Jace snapped, “We need a plan.”

As they stood there and argued over what the best plan of action would be, nobody noticed the dark man walk up behind them.

“Clary! Thank god I’ve found you.”

They all snapped to attention and prepared to fight only to freeze as he said, “Clary?”

“Luke!” she gasped before she held up her stele and snapped, “Stay back!”

“It’s not a wand,” Alec muttered, rolling his eyes at the glare Jace shot him, “What? She has a blade and a dagger and she holds out the stele.”

“Clary, you don’t need to be afraid.” The man took a caution step towards her.

“Clary?” Izzy questioned.

“Clary, please,” he pleaded, “I’m here to help you.”

“I heard what you said at the precinct,” she spat, “You told those creeps that the last twenty years of your life was a lie.”

“Those were Valentine’s people,” he defended himself, “I lied to them to protect you.”

“Looks like a lot of people lie to protect you.” Alec mumbled.

“Don’t,” she snapped as she ignored Alec as she glared at Luke, “You want the Mortal Cup, just like everyone else.”

“Clary, I love you and your mom,” he pleaded, “I just want to protect you and find your mother.”

“How did you find us?” Alec demanded.

“I’m a cop,” he explained, “Alaric, my partner wasn’t answering my calls. I traced his car to here. I knew that the pack was hunting Clary and I figured that the only reasons he was avoiding my calls was because they had found you.”

“You knew he was a werewolf?” Izzy asked.

“Yes, we’re both members of the same pack.”

“You… you’re a werewolf?” Clary gasped.

“Yes,” Luke told her, “I will explain everything but right now we should get you away from here, it’s not safe for you here.”

“They have the mundane, Simon.” Alec rolled his eyes.

“I should have known you would have dragged him into this,” he chuckled at her lightly, before he turned to Alec, “You’re the Head of the Institute,” he waited until Alec nod before he asked, “What are you guys doing here?”

“That’s not important right now,” Jace interrupted, “We have to rescue the mundane.”

“They’ll be keeping him in the back, there’s a storage area that is closed off,” Luke told them, “There’s a window there he might be able to climb through, if we caused a distraction out front someone can go back and get him out.”

“Luke and I will go and get the mundane, while you three will cause the distraction.”

“So, you’ll trust him but you won’t trust me.” Clary accused him.

“I didn’t say I trusted him,” Alec scoffed, “It’s why I’m keeping him with me. Now go,” He waited until they walked away and it was just him and Luke before he turned back to him and said, “If this does turn out be some sort of trap for the Cup, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

“I can see why Magnus respects you as the Head of the Institute.” Luke smirked at him.

“You know Magnus?” he asked him.

“Mostly through Jocelyn and meeting at some Downworlder meetings.”

Alec studied him for a few seconds before he nodded, “Okay, let go rescue the mundane.”

Alec activated his stealth rune as they waited. Soon, they could hear Jace and the others causing some form of commotion at the front of the restaurant and they moved from behind the containers. Luke lead them to the back of the building and pointed to the small window.

“He should be able to fit through that.”

Alec studied the window. It was a simple a simple glass panel and bars.

“Can you pull that from the wall?” he asked Luke.

He nodded. “Should be able to.”

He walked up to the window and placed his hands on the two outer bars and pulled. It took a few tries but eventually the window gave and he pulled it off the wall. Dropping it he looked into the room and found Simon backed up against the cage.

“Hey, kid. You ready to get out of here?”

“Luke, what…what are you … what are you doing here?” he stuttered.

“Saving you. Again.” Alec stepped up beside the werewolf. He held out a hand and said, “Come on, we have get out of here. The others will be waiting.”

Simon grabbed his hand and he and Luke pulled the boy up and out through the building. They made their way back to the container where they found the others.

“Simon!” Clary cries as she pulled him into a hug, “I was so worried.”

“I’m okay,” he pulled back to smile at her.

“I hate to break this little reunion,” Jace snapped as he watched the two’s emotional embrace, “But we have a bunch of werewolves trying to kill us, so maybe we should get going.”

“Quiet!” Alec snapped as he looked around cautiously, “Whatever you do, don’t make any sudden movements.” He grabbed Simon and pushed him between him and Luke saying, “And try not to get kidnapped again.”

“What do we do?” Izzy asked as they all surrounded Simon, keeping an eye on the wolves that crept towards them.

“Just stay together.” Alec told them.

“The Alpha.” Jace watched as a dark golden-brown wolf stalked towards them.

“Luke, what are you doing?” Clary cried.

Luke grunted in pain as he began to shift as he walked towards the alpha. He leaped at the wolf as it jumped at him.

“Luke!” Clary shouted as the two wolves went flying into a pile of crates. She went to run after him but was stopped as Alec grabbed her arm.

“Wait.”

“But…”

“He just challenged the alpha.” He told her.

Suddenly there was a distressed whine and a flash of light, and then silence and a dead calm as the wolves surrounding them stopped growling and the fighting stopped.

“Stay here.” He told them as he cautiously walked over to where they had been fighting.

He grimaced as he saw the dead body of a man and called back to the others, “The alpha’s dead.”

“Where’s Luke?” Clary called out as the wolves began to howl and shift back into their human form, “What’s happening?”

Luke stepped out from behind the crates as the wolves all knelt.

“What?” Clary asked again, stunned “What is happening?”

“When a werewolf kills an alpha, it becomes the new alpha,” Jace explained, as he tugged on her arm pulling her closer to him, “Your friend Luke is now the leader of the pack.”

“Clary…”

“No!” Jace snapped as she went to go to Luke.

“It’s okay.” She smiled to reassure him as she pulled away from him and went to Luke.

“I promised your mother that I would protect you.” He told her with a warm smile before he began to fall.

“Luke!” she gasped as she and Alec caught him before he fell to the ground.

“His wounds are too deep.” Alec examined the bleeding gashed that ran across Luke chest, “He’s gonna need Magnus to heal him.”

“How…” she grunted under the dead weight of Luke.

“Jace, take him.”

Once Jace had taken Luke from him he stepped back and pulled out his phone and dialled.

“Come on, Magnus,” he muttered as he waited for him to answer.

“Alec…”

“Magnus, where are you?” he broke in urgently.

“I’m still at the Institute,” he answered, worried at the urgency in Alec’s tone. “What’s wrong?”

“We’ve been attacked by werewolves. Luke’s been injured, he’s hurt. We need your help.”

“Okay, where are you?”

“At the docks, behind Jade Wolf.” He walked back to the others.

“Okay, I can’t open a portal near the water, can you get to where I open the portal when we visit the Jade Wolf?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he pulled his phone away and quickly explained to Jace where they were they were going. He took Luke from Clary and throw his arm over his shoulders and began to lead the small group back to the restaurant, soon they were at the spot Magnus was talking about, “Open the portal.”

“Done.” He heard Magnus say before he heard the dial tone and a portal flared up in front of them. He quickly pocketed his phone and dragged Jace and Luke through the portal. They stumbled through and fell to the floor, Izzy and Clary stumbling through after them.

“Luke!” Magnus gasped as quickly closed the portal and rushed to him and helped them carry Luke over to one of the beds. “What happened?”

“After rescuing the mundane from the vampires, they then let them get kidnapped by werewolves,” he bitterly told him as he added, “Luke helped us. He challenged the alpha.”

“Did he kill the alpha?” Magnus asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay,” he waved his hands, already pulsing with magic, over Luke’s body. “Stand back!” he warned the others as Luke arched and growled in pain as his eyes changed to a luminous green.

“Jocelyn!” he grunted as he collapsed back onto the bed panting. He turned to Clary and cupped her face, “Jocelyn.”

“No. Luke it's me, Clary,” she cried as she took his hand into hers, “Luke can you hear me.”

“Clary…Clary, listen to me,” he panted as he clutched at her hand, “Listen…listen I have …I have to tell you …in case…”

“No, don’t say that, please don’t,” she pleaded.

“Back away!” Magnus grabbed Clary and pulled her away just as Luke growled and arched up and off the bed. “Alec, Jace, hold him down.”

He waited until they came and held the growling man down before he turned and began to walk to his office.

“Where are you going?” Clary shouted.

He ignored her as he entered his office and began to gather up what he needed before he returned to Luke with a small golden cauldron and a piece of bark.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” he placed the bowl on the bedside table and leaned over Luke placing the piece of bark between his teeth.

“What’s happening to him?” Clary asked.

“Random werewolf transformation,” he explained as he clicked his fingers and waved his glowing hands over Luke, trying to sooth his pain, “It’s a side effect of the poison in the alpha’s bite.”

Alec and Jace let go of Luke as his pain receded and he fell back on the bed. They both backed up to let Clary and Simon sit beside him.

“Why isn’t he healing?” she asked as she clutched at his hand.

“The poison is too strong.” Magnus turned and walked back over to his office calling over his shoulder, “Someone should clean out his wounds and bandage him up, I’ll be back in a minute.”

“You okay?” Alec asked as he entered his office.

“Yes,” Magnus walked over to his shelving units to look for the ingredients he needed for the antidote.

“Are you going to be strong enough to heal him?”

Feeling the real concern and worry coming through their bond he stopped what he was doing and turned to Alec and stared him in the eye as he placed his hand on his chest, over his heart as he said, “I am fine. I am completely healed and back at full strength.”

Alec studied him, searching through the bond to make sure he really was fully recovered. He cupped his face and pulled him into a light kiss before he pulled back as he ordered, “Fine, but you will tell me if that changes or you need my help.”

“I promise, sir.”

“Good,” he placed a kiss on his forehead and asked, “Need any help now?”

“You could take my work table for me.” He gathered up his ingredients.

He waited until Alec had picked up the table before following him out of the office.

“The bark is only a temporary solution.” He watched as he Alec quickly set up the table and took the small bottles and packages for him and set them down. Magnus walked over to the bedside table and picked up the cauldron and placed it on the table. As he began to make the antidote he explained, “Luke needs an antidote for the poison in his system. Unfortunately, I don’t have all the ingredients in need here. I really have to remember to re-stock here.”

“What do you need and where do I get it?” Clary asked as she stood up.

“No, I need you here. Luke will need you if he wakes up,” he told her before he turned to Jace, “I have everything I need at my loft.”

“What do you need?”

“Phoenix eyes, moon salt and Idris fulgurite.” He poured some black liquid into the cauldron, “You’ll find everything in the kitchen in the back pantry.”

“Okay, Alec let’s go.”

Magnus was surprised to feel Alec tense up beside him and the anger that had come across the bond.

“I need Alexander here,” he quickly came up with an excuse, “I may need his strength later. Beside you need to be here for the Representatives,” he smiled at Alec as he felt his dom’s gratitude before he winced as he remembered, “Also your mother is coming today.”

“No, she hasn’t given the proper notice.” He barked, “She’s supposed to give twenty-four hour notice.”

“She sent several requests while you were out and Stephanie couldn’t get a hold of you. She asked me what she should do, she said she was bringing Max and I know you wouldn’t have said no to him. I told Stephanie to approve the visit.”

“Fine.” He reluctantly agreed, only because she was bringing Max and he didn’t get to see him much since he started school, “But the rules still apply.”

Luke growling in pain brought all their attention back to the situation at hand.

“Jace, go now!”

“Take the mundane. He can get you there quicker in his van.” Alec told him.

“Ah, no.” He scoffed at the suggestion.

“Alec’s right.” Simon stood up and walked over to him, “I can get you there and back quicker than you can walk.”

“Not if Magnus makes me a portal.” He smirked at the sub.

“No portal,” Magnus called, not taking his eyes off the potion he was brewing, “Conserving energy. And they’re right. The quicker you get there the quicker you get back and I can heal Luke.”

“Jace, please,” Clary pleaded.

“Fine,” he snapped as he grabbed Simon by his jacket and dragged him out of the infirmary as he grumbled, “But no talking.”

Alec turned to Magnus and said, “Izzy and I will go and get things ready for mother and the representatives. I’m serious about being left alone with my mother.”

Magnus took his attention off the potion long enough to look his dom in the eye and promised, “I know, Sir.”

“Good,” he placed a kiss on his temple. He turned to Clary and ordered, “Do not leave the infirmary.”

He didn’t wait for a response as he and Izzy walked out of the room.

Magnus watched him leave. He was worried about him, he could feel how tense and angry his mate was and he knew it had to with his parabatai and Izzy. He knew that having his mother in the Institutes at the same time as he was was only going to cause Alexander more stress.

He jumped as Clary walked up to him, with a wave at the table and asked, “What is all this?”

“This is the base of the antidote,” he explained as he poured a luminous liquid into the cauldron and gave it stir before he thrown in some ground werewolf fangs. He handed her the wooden spoon, “Stir,”

She took the spoon and began to stir as he added in some wolfsbane petals and oak ash.

“We need to have this ready for when your boy toys get back.”

“What if they don’t get back in time?”

“We can’t think like that.”

“That’s all I can think about,” she gritted through clenched teeth. She let out a deep sigh as she calmed slightly, “I don’t know what I’m doing. Every time I try and do what I think is the right think something goes wrong and when I try and fix that it just goes all wrong. Everyone keeps getting hurt and it’s all my fault.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” he encouraged her, “You are right. You don’t know what you’re doing and that’s because you have only been in this world for all of three days. This is all new to you and it’s been thrown at you all at once. You need to take a step back and actually listen to the people around you. The people who actually do know this world and what they are doing…”

“Jocelyn! No, don’t …don’t touch her…”

“Luke!” Clary cried as she ran to him and dropped to her knees and dropped down beside him as she took his hand, “Luke, I’m here.”

Magnus gently pushed her aside as he took his hand, “Let me take your pain.”

“No! No!” he panted.

“Agitation will only make the venom spread faster.”

“I need to tell Clary,” Luke insisted.

“You need to save your strength,” Clary urged him.

“No, you need to know.”

“Magnus, do it.”

“Don’t give me orders,” Magnus flinched as he growled at her. He took a calming breath before he turned to Luke, “Whatever you have to tell her can wait until after you have recovered.”

“Tell her, please,” Luke begged in between groans of pain, “You have to tell her everything, please.”

“Okay, okay,” Magnus nodded as he clicked his fingers and waved his over Luke, taking his pain, “The venom is spreading. Your boy toys better get here soon.”

They both sat back and watched Luke worriedly.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betad by the-eleventhfangirl
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry, it took longer to post this chapter than I would like. I got caught up in work and course work my first assignments.

“Are you okay?” Izzy asked as she followed her brother out of the infirmary to the Operation Centre.

“I’m fine.” He walked into the room and made his way over to Stephanie to inform her of his return and that if she needed him he would be in his office.

“Are you and Jace okay?” Izzy followed her brother through the corridor to his office.

“I don’t know.” He sighed.

She bit her lip nervously as she looked up at him and asked, “Are we okay?”

He stopped at his office and turned to her. He let out a deep breath as he said, “I don’t know.”

Not waiting for her response, he opened the door and stepped inside his office and closed the door behind him, collapsing against it as he took some deep breaths, trying to calm his mind. It wasn’t that he was angry at his siblings, but rather that he was hurt.

He knew they didn’t understand how their actions, their unsanctioned missions and breaking the Accords put him in situations where he had to make tough choices to protect them. He remembers watching over a sleeping baby Izzy and promising to do everything he could to protect her and later Jace and Max, but for the first time his promise to his siblings was conflicting with his promise to Magnus and he was torn on what he was supposed to do.

With a tired groan, he rubbed his hands over his face, pushing himself away from the door and moving to sit at his desk. He saw a pile of reports on his desk and pulled them closer to him and set about to read through them. He was disappointed when he got to his mother’s requests and found that he couldn’t deny her visits as she had a legitimate reason to come to the Institute.

He was immersed in reading about last night's demon hunts when a knock on his door disturbed him. He briefly checked in on Magnus to ensure that he was okay. When all he could feel was mild irritation coming from him he let out a relieved sigh, dimmed their connection, and called out, “Come in,”

He smiled as Stephanie entered and asked, “Hey, what can I do for you?”

“I wanted to fill you in on what’s been happening this morning,” she said as she stepped over to the desk and handed over a tablet. She chuckled as he groaned as he took them.

He liked Stephanie and was happy that he had chosen her as his Ops manager. She was smart and competent, and she didn’t put up with Jace’s cocky attitude or allow any dominants to push her around just because she was a submissive.

“I already know that my mother and the representatives are due this afternoon.”

“Okay,” she nodded as she bit her lip, a little unsure as she added, “About your mother, I tried to get in contact with you and …”

“It’s okay,” he interrupted with a shake of his head, “Magnus told me. It was the right decision,” he reassured her, with a nod to the tablet he said, “Tell me the highlights.”

“Okay, well, beside your mother and the reps, there was a suspected demon sighting and a report on what is believed to be a new vampire den. I sent two team out to investigate and I’m just waiting for them to get back. There was some strange activity with some werewolves, but Magnus said he had an idea of what was happening and that he would deal with it.”

Alec nodded as he handed her the files, “I’ve finished with these. Can you give them to Marcus to file to the Clave?” He waited for her to take the files before adding, “I know about the werewolves. Magnus and I are dealing with it. I don’t know how long my parents and Max are going to be here, but if you could have someone air out their quarters and I guess we should air out the guest quarters for the reps too.”

“Of course,” she smiled as she turned and walked out of his office.

As soon as his door closed he collapsed back with a deep sigh. He was not looking forward to his parents’ visit, but he would put up with it because they were bringing Max and he hadn’t seen his younger brother since he started his training in the Mumbai Institute and Magnus was excited to see the younger submissive.

Max and Magnus had bonded when they had first met, much to Maryse’s displeasure. Max had been struggling under his mother and his dynamic. Maryse, a dominant, had wanted a family of dominants to carry on the Lightwood name and traditions. When Max had been born she had raised him the same way as she had his siblings, to be a strong dominant, but by the time Magnus had come into their lives it had been clear to the warlock that the six year old was a submissive. Magnus had encouraged Max and his siblings to embrace his submissive dynamic. They had become the best of friends ever since.

He jumped as he felt a spike of intense anger coming from Magnus. Jumping out of his seat he ran out of his office. He let out a sigh of relief when he got to the infirmary and saw that Magnus was pacing and waving his drink as he agitatedly talked to Clary. He leaned against the doorway as he watched him, listening to him as he continued his rant.

 

*** ** ***

 

Clary sat beside Luke holding his hand, running a soothing thumb over it. She watched as Magnus stood up and walked over to the table and began to stir the potion.

“Tell me what?” she asked, “What was so important that he was willing to risk his life for?”

“Everything that Jocelyn had hoped to hide from you.” He turned back to face her and with a snap of his fingers a sketch pad and charcoal pencil appeared on the bed beside her.

“Why?” She picked up the pad and ran a hand over the paper.

With another snap of his fingers a tumbler of whisky appeared in his hand. He turned back to the potion to give it another stir, “When you were younger I’d watch you sketch. It was your bliss.” He shot her a sad smile over his shoulder as he added, “You’re going to need some bliss.”

“Back then, there wasn’t a day I didn’t draw.” She smiled sadly at the sketch pad, “It was like breathing,” she idly ran the pencil over the paper as she thought over what she wanted to say before she looked back up at him, “Will…will whatever Luke wants you to tell me help me find my mother?”

“That’s the only reason I can think of why Luke would be so adamant.”

She stood up and joined him at the table and looked him in the eye, “Okay, I’m ready warlock, tell me.” She ignored the flinch he gave at the order.

“You really need to work on the way you say things,” he muttered as he snapped his fingers and refilled his tumbler, “I told you before that the first time I heard about your father, it was about the time he and your mother first got together, long before the Uprising and the Circle. Valentine elevated the Morgenstern name to be synonymous with virtue,” he paused as he turned to face her as he scoffed, “Allies to the Downworld. Defender of the Accords. Your mother was at his side through all of this. By the time my people came to know him, barely two years later, his name become synonymous with devastation.

“Your mother told me it was then that she first saw the signs. He began to attack Downworlders. He began to break the Accords. They never found all the bodies,” he trailed off as he became lost in his memories. Absently he added, “We’d all stood with the Clave for centuries.”

“How could that not matter to him?” she asked as she paused in her drawing to look at him.

“He was obsessed with ensuring purity of blood,” he told her as he added bitterly, “He was convinced that the impurities were a threat to peace.”

“He was the threat to peace,” she muttered as she turned back to her drawing.

“Madmen rarely make sense,” he said as he began to pace, “Mostly they just hate, and he hated Downworlders for the gifts that we possess that he could not have. He hated us enough to kill us all.”

“Why didn’t the Clave try and stop him?” She tore off the sheet of paper and began to draw again.

“He was very clever,” he spat, all the hate and anger he had for Valentine and the Clave coming back as he remembered that time. “He and his followers managed to convince the Clave that the Downworlders that they killed on their special missions had violated the Accords in some way. Complete fabrications, of course.”

“How could the Clave not see?”

“Shadowhunters liked to believe that their Law was absolute,” he paused in his pacing as he spotted Alec leaning against the door way. Alec smiled as he came into the infirmary and sat on the opposite bed beside Luke. Magnus sat down beside him and with an apologetic smile at Alec he added, “They could never conceive one of their own going astray.”

“My father never went astray, Magnus,” she said as she watched Alec reach out and take the tumbler from Magnus hand and entwined their hands together. “He went insane.”

“Yes, and I’m afraid that what happened back then is going to happen again.”

“It won’t,” Alec promised.

“The same Shadowhunters who were on the Clave twenty years ago still hold some sway over the Nephilim,” his anger growing again as he spat, “It was their lack of vision, and prejudice that allowed the Circle to decimate the entire Shadow world.

“The Uprising?” Clary asked, going back to her sketching.

“Valentine wanted to create a new Shadowhunter army. That was when he stole the Mortal Cup. That was when Jocelyn knew he had really gone insane, because he killed Shadowhunters to steal the Cup.” He added bitterly, “A few Downworlders here and there was fine, but a couple of Shadowhunters, oh no he’d crossed the line.”

He leaned into Alec as he let his presence sooth his anger.

“How could my mother and Luke be a part of something like this?”

“To be fair Jocelyn and Luke tried to prevent the Uprising,” he told her, “They tried to change Valentine’s mind about Downworlders.”

“Obviously they failed.”

“If it wasn’t for them the Circle would have won. Jocelyn came to me and warned me about the attack that Valentine planned on the renewing of the Accords. Everything that Jocelyn and Luke did was to protect the people they’d sworn to protect. Your mother took her oath as a Shadowhunter very seriously. She was one of the few Shadowhunters that I respected,” he smiled at Alec and quickly amended, “Before I met you, of course.”

“Of course.” He smirked at him, bumping his shoulder playfully.

Clary watched, a little jealous of their connection, as they smiled softly at each other. She had always wondered what it would be like to have a soulmate, to have a deep connection with someone were you shared your heart and soul with, to be able to feel and share your emotions with.

Luke’s quiet moan brought he gaze back to him and she reached out to run a hand over his head to calm him down. When he settled back down she turned back to the two men, “What does any of that have to do with finding the Cup?”

“Maybe Luke thinks if you really knew your mother, you would know where she hid it,” Magnus guessed.

“Then tell me why she gave up being a Shadowhunter?”

“Because the one thing she loved more than being a Shadowhunter was you.” He smiled softly at her, “She abandoned her whole world to protect you.”

“From my father the lunatic.”

Luke’s groaned again and began to writhe in pain.

“The magic is wearing off,” Magnus said with a weary sigh as he knelt beside his bed, inspecting his wounds.

“It was our fault. It …it …was... all our fault…” Luke mumbled.

“It’s getting worse.” She pressed down on the shoulder wound that had opened again.

Magnus snapped his fingers and focused all his magic on healing Luke.

“Magnus,” Alec shifted on the bed as he felt the intense magic coming from his mate.

Magnus continued to infuse his magic into the dying werewolf.

“Magnus!” Alec snapped, getting worried as the Institute began to rumble and shake.

“I’m…I’m running out of magic,” he panted.

“What!” he shouted, and dropped down beside him. He reached out and gripped his chin and turned him to face him demanding, “Stop!”

“I can’t. Please don’t order me to stop healing him… he….” he pleaded.

Alec knew how important it was to Magnus to keep people safe, so he reluctantly agreed. He would stop him if it became life threatening for his mate.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked.

“I can’t leave him. The potion still needs Komodo scale. Find it and add it, and then add the rest when Jace and Simon get here. You’ll have to feed it to him.”

Alec nodded and keeping an eye on Magnus he added the Komodo scale and stirred it in.

As the trembling of the building increased Izzy ran in and shouted, “What’s going on?”

“Magnus is trying to keep Luke alive. Tell everyone that everything is going to be fine.” He looked over at Magnus and seeing how pale he was he added, “I’m going to be stopping him soon.”

“Alec,” he panted as he knelt beside him.

Alec caught him as he began to collapse. He took his hand and said, “Take my strength,” but he warned, “I’m stopping you before it goes too far, do you understand?” He waited until Magnus nodded and tightened his arms around Magnus and helped back up, “Then take what you need.”

Magnus smiled gratefully at him as the he felt Alec’s strength surge through him, his magic getting stronger as they concentrated on keeping Luke alive. He was vaguely aware of Jace and Simon returning and Clary finishing the potion.

As she fed it to Luke he collapsed against Alec’s chest. Alec pulled him closer as he cupped his face and asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” He smiled tiredly up at him.

Alec kissed him on the forehead before he cradled him to his chest and stood up. He laid him down into the bed and climbed in behind him, arranging him to rest against his chest.

“I’m okay,” he assured him sleepily.

“I know,” he said as he tightened his arms around him, “But it wouldn’t hurt for you to get some rest.”

He smiled as Magnus nodded sleepily and smothered a yawn into Alec’s shoulder. Alec watched as Clary and Simon crowded round Luke and Jace stood awkwardly hovering over Clary.

Jace cleared his throat as he turned to the two men in the bed asking, “You two okay?”

“I’m fine.” He nodded and looked down at a dozing Magnus and said, “Magnus is exhausted, but he’ll be fine.”

“His bandages will need to be changed,” Magnus mumbled.

“Rest,” he chided.

“I can do it,” Clary said as she jumped up and looked around frowning, “Where are the bandages?”

“I’ll show you,” Jace chuckled as he tugged on her arm and led her to the supply cupboard.

Magnus must have dozed off as he woke up when Alec shifted on the bed. He looked around and saw that Luke was sitting up in the bed. Magnus, with the help of Alec, sat up against Alec chest and turned to Luke and asked, “You okay?”

“I am now, thanks to you.” His eyes darted to Alec. He chuckled as he added, “I still can’t believe that you have a soulmate, a Shadowhunter soulmate, and the Lightwoods’ eldest son at that.”

“Trust me, the irony is not lost on me.” He let out a small chuckle.

“I feel like there’s a story there,” Alec warily said, watching the two men.

Magnus blushed as he smiled sheepishly up at Alec, “I’ll ah, I’ll explain later.”

Clary cleared her throat, bringing their attention to her as she glared at the werewolf.

“You know you can’t avoid the question, right?” she asked him, not giving him a chance to answer as she added, “I know mom swore you to secrecy, but I’ve seen you stand up to her before. Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

“Because I was afraid you would hate us.”

“Not possible,” she insisted at his doubtful look she added, “Okay, for the last few days I have had a lot of information thrown at me…”

“And you still don’t have all of it,” he interrupted her, “But you need to know everything, so it can help you find the Mortal Cup.”

“How?”

“You’re going to have to trust me.”

“I do. More than anything and nothing you say is ever gonna change that.” She promised.

“All right,” he turned to Magnus and asked, “How much did you tell her?”

“We just got to the attack at the Accords signing.” He snuggled into Alec’s arms.

“About the Valentine that murdered all those people?”

“Yes,” Clary said, refusing to look at him.

“The reason he became that man was our fault. Mine and Jocelyn’s.”

“How?” she asked confused.

“We betrayed him, Clary. Your mother and I,” he looked away from her ashamed, “We fell in love.”

Alec cleared his throat gaining everyone’s attention. He turned to Luke and offered, “If this is something you want to discuss in private, we can leave?”

“It’s okay,” Luke shrugged, wincing at the pull of his shoulder, “I think this is something you all need to hear.”

“Did you…are you…” she stuttered blushing.

“No, no we never…” he trailed off with his own blush.

“Slept together.” She grimaced.

“Yeah, I mean no!” he sifted uncomfortably in the bed. He took a deep calming breath before he continued, “Your parents were a collared pairing and Valentine was my parabatai. We both loved him, but as his rhetoric got more violent and he became more combative with the Clave we started to worry. We tried to help him, to temper him, but he just kept pulling away. That drew us closer to each other. We knew it was wrong, but we couldn’t deny it, or hide it.

“Valentine became convinced we were having an affair. He was obsessed with winning Jocelyn’s heart back. For her love, he was willing to do anything, even compromise his own principles. He became fixated on becoming a better solider. He began to experiment on Downworlders’ blood. Once he crossed that line we never got him back. In the end our love, for him and each other, did more damage to Valentine that anything anybody else could have done. We broke his heart.”

“Well, at least we know he had one,” she muttered, “before his crazy distorted world view set in.”

“The demons were winning,” Luke tried to defend Valentine, “Val wanted the Clave to use the Cup to make more Shadowhunters, but that just made them angry.”

“This might be a stupid question,” Simon said, ignoring the scoff from Jace as he asked, “But aren’t more Shadowhunters a good thing?”

“Not the way he was proposing,” Luke said, “After the Angel Raziel created the first Shadowhunters with the Cup, it had been forbidden to use the Cup again to rebuild our forces.”

“Why?”

“Not all mundanes can survive drinking from the Cup.” Jace said as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed that Magnus and Alec were resting on, “The Clave decided that since many never survived drinking from the Cup it was too dangerous and declared it Law not to allow anybody to drink from it.”

“But Valentine didn’t care about the dangers. He thought it was worth it,” Luke said, “Jocelyn and I tried pulling him back, but he just misconstrued that as…”

“The affair,” Clary finished for him, “It’s not your fault Luke. You two couldn’t have pushed him over the edge, he did that himself with the blood injections.”

“And the more blood he injected himself with, the deeper into madness he went.” Magnus finished.

“Not even I was prepared how far his madness went,” Luke mumbled.

“What do you mean?” Simon asked.

“Valentine betrayed …he betrayed our parabatai bond. He’s the reason I became a werewolf,” his voice was hoarse with pain, “He asked me to go on a mission. Some farmers had gone missing, he told me that it was werewolves. He locked me in the barn with wild wolves and left me for dead. Your mother found me, told me I had a choice. Kill myself or accept the change.”

“Kill yourself?” Simon asked, shocked.

“Traditionally, if a Shadowhunter had been bitten by a werewolf or a vampire they would kill themselves, rather than disgrace their family and the Clave by becoming a Downworlder,” Magnus snapped bitterly.

“That’s …that’s…but…” Simon stuttered into the tense silence, watching as Alec consoled an angry Magnus.

“Nephilim prejudice,” Magnus answered as he pulled Alec’s arm tighter around himself, “They would never pollute their precious Angelic blood with demonic blood.” He could feel Alec tense up behind and ran his hands down his arms to his hands entwining their fingers, running soothing thumb over the back of his hand, “It is getting better. I’m not saying that there is still not Shadowhunters that have prejudices against Downworlders, but it is getting better. It takes time to unlearn centuries worth of prejudices and make progress.

“Honestly, twenty years ago, before the Uprising, even though Alexander and I are soulmates we wouldn’t be together. Alexander would never have been allowed to bond with me, in fact, he would have been made to destroy his mark, breaking our bond. So, there is progress, but it is taking it’s time.”

“And you accepted becoming a werewolf…”

“Because I love your mother and I didn’t want her to fight Valentine alone.”

“I still don’t see how this is supposed to help me find the Cup?” She sighed, slightly annoyed, “I don’t even know where to start looking.”

“Because I know Jocelyn and I know you’re the only one she would have trusted with the location of the Cup.”

“If she trusted me so much, why didn’t she tell me any of this?” she cried.

“She didn’t think any of this was going to happen,” he defended “She made provisions just in case it did. Dot, the potion. I was to tell you everything about our past. She said it would unlock you.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Izzy said from the doorway, “But, Alec, mother is on her way.”

Alec groaned as he sat up, helping Magnus to sit up. He looked him over carefully before asking, “Are you okay to come with us or do you need more time to rest?”

“I’m good,” Magnus stood up and turned and held out a hand to Alec, “I can come and greet the family.”

Alec took his hand and pulled himself out of bed. He cupped his face with his free hand and asked, “The rules?”

“I’m not allowed to be left alone at any time with your parents.” He rolled his eyes.

“Magnus!” he warned.

“I know the rules and I promise that I won’t break them,” he promised, tone much serious now. He knew, even after all these years, Alec was still had trouble trusting his parents when it concerned his safety. He placed his free hand on his chest and promised, “It’ll be okay, beside Max is coming. I’ll be too busy getting in… I mean keeping, keeping Max out of trouble.”

“Yeah, whatever.” He scoffed as he turned to Simon and Clary and told them, “Don’t leave the Institute, either of you. I don’t want to have to go looking for you when the Representatives get here,” at Simon he smirked as he added, “And I don’t want to have to plan another rescue mission.”

“Hey!”

Alec ignored him as he led Magnus out of the infirmary, Jace and Izzy following them.

“Do you know what she wants?” Izzy asked.

“No, but it is Clave business.”

“And she’s bringing Max,” Magnus added excitedly.

Alec groaned as he muttered, “I don’t know who’s the biggest trouble maker is, the ten year old or the four hundred year old.”

“You love me.” He smiled at him as the came to a stop outside the portal doors, “I make your life interesting.”

“Yeah, you do.” He smiled back as he placed a kiss on his forehead.

The portal doors opened causing all three siblings to tense. Magnus took a deep breath to calm himself so that he could be there to support his dominant if he needed him. He squeezed Alec’s hand, letting him know he’s there, as the doors opened and Maryse Lightwood stepped through the portal into the Institute.

“Isabelle,” she greeted as she looked her daughter up and down, “Dressed to impress I see, and you’ve been playing with the family heirlooms, again.”

“Magnus gave it to me,” she said, her hand going to the ruby necklace resting on her chest.

“It wasn’t his to give,” she said as she sent a small glare at him.

“Actually, it was,” Alec defended, “I bequeathed it back to him as payment for a mission he completed for the Institute.”

She scoffed at them before she turned to Jace, smiling at him and pulling him into a warm hug.

Alec rolled his eyes as he ignored the blatant favouritism as he asked, “I thought you were bringing Max?”

“He’s coming later with your father. He had some things he needed to sort out at the Mumbai Institute.” Before any of them could say anything, she added, “Shall we procced to your office?”

Without waiting for a response, she turned and made her way to Alec’s office. Alec rolled his eyes and began to follow her. Magnus gave his hand a quick squeeze before he let go and fell back to walk with Izzy,

“You okay?”

“Yes, fine.” Seeing his dubious look, she smiled at him and she added, “I promise, I’m fine. I accepted a long time ago that I was never going to get my mother’s approval, and I’m okay with that. I decided that if I want to be truly happy, then I would have to follow my big brother’s footsteps, and be true to myself.”

“Good,” he smiled at her, “Because I think you look exquisite and that necklace looks beautiful on you,” he smirked as he added, “Besides, it wouldn’t have suited Alexander.”

“No, it wouldn’t have.”

They giggled as they entered the office, both biting their lips to try and stifle their laughter as Maryse turned to glare at them. Jace closed the door behind them as he walked over to the couch and he and Izzy sat down.

“Should the warlock be here?” Maryse asked as she sat down in the chair in front of his desk.

Alec rolled his eyes as he stood in front of his desk, “Yes, Magnus should be here,” he smiled as said man came to stand beside him, “Magnus is my husband and co-head of the Institute with me.”

Maryse grimace in disgust before she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin, “I have been sent by the Clave. The Seelies have stopped communicating with the Clave and they won’t explain why.” She paused as her eyes flicked to Magnus before looking back at Alec, with an exasperated eye roll she huffed, “My guess is that they are upset that we asked them to send scouts to look for Valentine.”

“Asked or ordered?” Magnus asked her.

“Asked,” she bit out as she glared at him.

“I have Seelie friends.” Izzy offered.

“Yes, I know all about your friends.” She sneered at her daughter.

“I don’t understand,” Magnus interrupted, taking the attention off Izzy, “If the Clave did in fact ask the Seelies for their help, why would they be upset?”

“I don’t know,” she spat. With a sneer she added, “Maybe we insulted one of their silly little customs, who knows what offends these creatures.”

“I can help,” Izzy offered as she stood up to glare at her mother, “I can talk to my friends.”

“Izzy is right,” Alec said, “She can visit with Meliorn and see what he knows.”

“I can check in with the Council, see if they know anything,” Magnus offered.

“Thank you,” he nodded at him as he turned to Maryse adding, “I’ll go with Izzy…”

“You can’t,” Magnus broke in and quickly explained, “The representatives will be arriving this afternoon.”

“Right, I forgot,” he sighed, ignoring him mothers huff as he turned to Jace, “Jace will go with Izzy and…”

“Actually, I want to stay here and help Clary deal with the reps,” Jace interrupted him.

“I don’t care what you want,” Alec barked, angry that Jace would defy his orders in front of their mother, “I gave you an order to go with Izzy, now go!”

When Jace looked set to argue Izzy grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the office.

Magnus turned to Alec and said, “I’ll go and make that call to the Council,” he waited until Alec nodded at him before he turned and left the office leaving Alec alone with his mother.

“You have such control over the Institute,” she mocked as she stood up and looked around the office, the disdain clear in her expression, “Mundanes hanging about, your brother and sister running around and breaking the Accords, Valentine’s daughter having free access to the Institute.”

“Have you finished?” he asked, voice bland. When she didn’t say or do anything he finished, “Good, now why don’t you tell me the real reason you are here?”

“I’m here because the Clave…”

“Bullshit!” he barked, ignoring the flash of surprised annoyance that crossed her face when he added, “You and I know that was not important enough for the Clave to send you here. The representatives could have passed that on to me. You used it as a flimsy excuse to bypass the required twenty-four hours’ notice you have to give to visit the Institute. Now, tell me why you are really here?”

“Fine,” she growled as she sat back down, crossed her legs and clasped her hands together in her lap as she settled back in her seat, “As you are aware, your father and I made a mistake when we decided to follow Valentine. Because of this we have lost favour with the Clave.” She paused as if she was waiting for a response, when she received none she continued, “With Valentine’s return, the Clave is questioning the loyalty of the Lightwoods…”

“No, it’s not. The Clave or the Council,” he interrupted, ignoring the grimace that crossed his mother’s face at the mention of the Council, he went on, “is not questioning the Lightwoods. They may be questioning you and father, but not the rest of us.”

“Of course,” she gritted through clenched teeth.

“So, why don’t you just tell me why you are here?”

She straightened her shoulders and looked him in the eye as she informed him, “Your father and I have arranged for you to marry a fellow Shadowhunter, someone who can help secure…”

She trailed off as Alec began to laugh.

“I’m sorry, but I think I may have hit my head or something because I’m almost positive that I heard you say you have arranged for me to get married to some Shadowhunter.”

“Alec…”

“Because that couldn’t be possible, seeing as I am already married, to my soulmate,” he continued, talking over his mother.

“Your soulmate is a warlock,” she sneered, disgust clear on her face, “Your bond with it has made you immortal, surely you…”

“Get out!” he growled as he straightened.

“Alec!” she snapped as she stood up to face him, “You would turn your back on your family?”

“No, I am turning my back on you and father, just like you did to me when you tried to kill my soulmate five years ago.”

“He is nothing but a filthy warlock,” she cried, unable to keep her anger or disgust under control, “You are a Lightwood you should be married to another Shadowhunter, not some filthy demon.”

“I would be careful of what you say mother. You never know who you can trust,” he told her bitterly, before he added, “Besides you should be grateful to Magnus. If it wasn’t for that filthy warlock you would no longer have the Lightwood name.”

“Alec…” breathed, shocked at what he had revealed.

“Magnus was the one to convince me not to complete the Excommunication. I wanted you gone from our family completely, but Magnus has always believed in giving people second chances. _He_ is the only reason you still have the name you are so proud of.” He took a deep calming breath before he added, “You may still have the Lightwood name, but you are no longer the head of this family, meaning you no longer make decisions for this family. You do not have any right to come in here making demands. Do you understand?”

“Yes!” she growled under her breath.

“Then listen to me very carefully. I will not be marrying anyone, and you will not be forcing Izzy, Jace or Max to marry anyone either. We are not pawns in whatever political game you and father are playing. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes!”

“Good, now when Jace and Izzy return with whatever information they have, I want you gone form my Institute.” He sat down and began to work through the reports that Stephanie left on his desk. When his mother stayed standing at his desk he looked up briefly, “You can leave now.”

“Fine,” she growled through gritted teeth before she turned and stormed over to the door and yanked it open, glaring at Magnus, who stood hand raised ready to knock, as she stormed past him.

 

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betad by the-eleventhfangirl
> 
> Sorry, it took longer to post this chapter than I would like. I got caught up in work and course work. 
> 
> As I have said this story is mostly written and I have the next four chapters completed,they just need a final edit and look over and then I'll send them to my beta, but this will be my last chapter until after Hogmanay, maybe even the second week in January as I have three assessments due for the 12th, but I'm hoping it won't be that long as I'm hopeful that I'll finish them early (I have the first two nearly finished, so, yay.)

Magnus let out a small annoyed huff as he watched Izzy drag a glaring Jace out of the office. “I’ll go and make that call to the Council,” he said, waiting until Alec nodded at him before he turned and left the office, leaving Alec alone with his mother.

He found Jace and Izzy in the hallway quietly arguing.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he glared at Jace.

They turned to him in surprise.

“Do you have any idea what you just did in there?”

“What?…What are you talking about?” Jace snapped.

He was already angry at Alec for sending him on a mission away from Clary, and now to have Magnus come out glaring and admonishing him only made him angrier. Especially since he wasn’t used to the warlock’s anger being directed at him.

“I’m talking about that little display in there with Alec, in front of your mother,” he cried with a wave of his hand at the office.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You questioned your brother’s leadership in front of your mother,” he snarled as he stalked towards them, “The woman that has been questioning his every order and you blatantly showed your disrespect of him in front of her. Her golden boy, proving that she was right all along.” When Jace just stood there silent, he grew even more angry and snapped, “I have watched as you treated Alec like he was your own personal lap-dog for years. You don’t treat Alec like your parabatai, your equal. You…”

Jace pushed him up against the wall as he growled in his face, “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Jace!” Izzy cried in shock at his anger.

“I know more than you think. I know that your actions have consequences that you don’t see or seem to care about. That they affect more than just you,” he snarled as he used his magic to push Jace away from him. He stood and straightened his shirt and jacket as he glared at him and stated coldly, “And don’t ever touch me without my permission. I may be your brother’s submissive, but I am still the High Warlock. It would do well for you to remember that.”

Magnus pushed past the two stunned Shadowhunters and entered his office. He leaned back against the closed door and let out a tired sigh. He closed his eyes and he banged his head on the door as he thought about what he had almost said. He knew Alexander wanted to protect his siblings, keep from them the lengths he has gone to protect them from the Clave and he didn’t think he had let anything slip, despite how much he wanted to yell it at them. Jace had always been arrogant and cocky, and when they had first meet they had found it hard to get along, but for Alexander they had worked at becoming friends, or at least be on friendlier terms. He knew they were in the dark when it came to Alexander and his protection, but it still made him angry that they would blatantly disrespect him the way that they did.

He groaned as he pushed himself away from the door and made his way to his desk. He pulled out his phone before he sat down and dialled.

“Magnus, darling, what can I do for you?”

“Evelyn,” he greeted as he sat down, “I’m calling on behalf of the New York Institute.”

“Ah, and how is your beautiful dom?”

“Still as beautiful as ever and still unwilling to share,” he told her, laughing lightly.

“Which is still very selfish of him,” she pouted.

“Evelyn,” he lightly scolded with a laugh, before adding more seriously, “I have called to enquire about the Seelies. We have someone from of the Clave here claiming that they have asked for their help in looking for Valentine and that they have now stopped all communication, without any explanation.”

“Asked or ordered?” the werewolf growled.

“That’s what I asked,” he chuckled darkly as he answered, “I was assured that they were asked for their assistance, but you never can tell with the Clave.”

“No, you can’t,” she agreed bitterly. She was there during the first Uprising, had fought side by side with Magnus. She had been instrumental in working with Magnus and the other Downworlders in forming the Council and helping the Shadowhunters in reforming the Clave and Accords. She knew how stubborn and bitter the elder Nephilim had been, and still were, at what they had saw as their loss of power and status to what they thought was beneath them. She let out a tired sigh as she added, “As far as I am aware, the Council have not been informed of any possible new missions that the Clave have going that may involve any Downworlders, but I’ll check with the other Council members and see if they know anything. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out anything.”

“Thank you, Evelyn. I’ll be waiting for your call.” He smiled as he hung up and threw his phone onto his desk.

He slumped back in his seat and closed his eyes with a tired sigh. What had started out to be a promising week with some quality time with his dom, something that they hadn’t had a lot of lately, had turned into a week from hell. The biggest threat to Downworlders had come back to haunt them. His Alexander was so stressed, from his sibling, his parents and Valentine, that he could feel his dom’s pressure pulsing at the base of his skull. In fact, he could feel Alexander’s growing anger as he sat there. He knew it had to be caused by his mother and he should get up and see if he could calm his dom down, before he did or said something he may later regret.

He let out a frustrated groan as he grabbed his phone and pocketed it as he quickly left his office and crossed the hall to Alec’s office. He had just raised his hand to knock when the door was yanked open and Maryse stood there glaring at him before she stormed past him.

“You okay?” he asked as he entered closing the door behind him and walked over to Alec, running a hand through his hair.

“No,” he sighed as he pushed his seat away from his desk and reached up to pull Magnus down into his lap, wrapping his arms around his waist. “What did the Council say?”

“Well, first Evelyn wished me to inform you that you are still very selfish, keeping me all to yourself,” he smiled as he heard his dom laugh lightly. He curled his arm around his neck and played with the edge of his hair as he added, “She also told me that the Clave has not informed the Council of any new missions involving Seelies or other Downworlders.”

“Is that… have they broken…”

“They haven’t broken any Laws or violated the Accords. If it’s true and they did ask them to help with Clave business then everything should be fine, but that is the important point, if they asked or if they ordered them, which they have no authority to do so. It’s not required of the Clave to tell the Council of any missions that involve Downworlders, but I guess it is considered a courtesy to inform the Council. Just so that we are all informed in what is happening. Evelyn said she’ll check with the other Council members to see if they know anything, but the fact that the Seelies have cut all communications doesn’t bode well for the Clave, especially since the Clave didn’t report anything about the Circle attacks or that we didn’t report Clary right away. I think they are being extra cautious with anything that has any connection with Valentine.”

“And of course, what happened with the vampires and werewolves can’t be helping any,” he muttered bitterly.

“What exactly did happen?” Magnus asked as he entwined his free hand with Alec’s.

Alec sighed as he let his head fall back against his chair as he quickly went over everything that had happened after Simon had been kidnapped by the vampires.

“Camille escaped?” he asked, when Alec nodded he ran a soothing hand through his hair as he added, “I’ll call Raphael, see what’s happening.”

They fell silent, both taking comfort in each other. Alec pulled him in tighter to him and nuzzled into his neck, kissing his collar. He pulled back and ran his hand up his chest, up into his hair. He used his grip on his hair to pull him into a kiss. He lightened the kiss as he pulled back to look at Magnus and asked, “I know it’s not the best timing, but have you given any thought on what we talked about last week?”

“Yes, I have,” He bit his lip nervously as he added, “I just…I just wonder if you really have thought it through.”

“Of course I have,” he pulled him into a quick kiss, before he added, “I’m the one that asked you.”

“I know. I just…” he sighed as he tried to explain, “I just…you…I know you’ve accepted that you are immortal and that means outliving your parabatai, Izzy, Max and our friends, but do you really understand what it means to outlive our children?”

“Magnus, yes, I do,” he said as he gripped Magnus’ chin and tipped his head back to look him in the eye. “I didn’t ask on a whim. I thought about it all year before I even broached the subject of kids with you. I thought about watching them grow old and die, I thought about only adopting warlock children, but then I thought about how unfair it would be to all those children that are alone. There are hundreds of Shadowhunter children out there with no family, as well as all the Downworlders that we could take in and love. Give them a family.” He took a deep breath to calm his racing thoughts as he added, “My point is that I’ve thought about it carefully and I know what I’m getting into. I want to start a family with you.”

“Really?” he asked, biting his lip as he tried to contain his excitement.

“Really,” he smiled as he felt his felt his mate’s building excitement and happiness.

“Then, yes Alexander, Sir. I would love to start a family with you.” A wide smile spread across his face.

Alec smiled as he pulled him into a deep kiss. He lightly traced kisses along his jaw and down his neck, biting lightly at his mark. Magnus moaned as he tilted his head back, giving his dom more access to his neck.

“We…we…” he panted as Alec slid his free hand up under his shirt, scraping his nails along his spine, smirking as his sub shivered.

“I miss this,” he sighed as he pulled back and placed a quick kiss on his lips before he pressed their heads together.

“Me, too.” Magnus sighed as he tucked his head into his neck.

Alec frowned as he used the hand, still in his hair to tip his head back and looked him over in concern before he asked, “Are you okay? Do you need to drop?”

“No, I’m okay,” he said.

“Magnus, it’s been a while.” He cupped his face and forced him to look him in the eye. “Tell me the truth. Do you need to drop?”

“I am telling you the truth.” He covered Alec’s hand with his own, and with a kiss to his palm he added, “Do I want it? Yes, I always want to be in my subspace with you. You make me feel safe and loved. So, do I want it? Yes, but I don’t need it. I’m tired from the past couple of days, but I’m fine.”

Alec studied him some more before he ordered, “You will tell me if that changes.”

“Yes, Sir.” He pressed another kiss into Alec palm before he pulled Alec’s hand away from his face and nuzzled into his neck again.

Their moment of peace was broken by someone knocking on the door. Magnus groaned as he sat up and with a snap of his fingers a mirror appeared in his hand. He ignored his dom’s small laugh as he used his magic to fix his hair and make-up. Alec waited until he had magicked his mirror away and called out for them to enter, keeping back a groan of disappointment as Magnus climbed off his lap. They smiled as they greeted Stephanie, who stepped in.

She shot them an apologetic smile as she told them, “Sorry to disturb you, but your father and Max just reported that they’re on their way.”

“Max!” Magnus cried happily as he almost skipped out of the room.

Alec groaned as he stood up. Rolling his eyes, he asked, “How much trouble do you think those two will cause me this time?”

“Oh, I am not touching that one.” She laughed as she followed him out of his office.

They split up, Stephanie going back to the Ops centre and Alec following Magnus to the portal doors.

He huffed out a small laugh at Magnus as he shifted from foot to foot, unable to contain his excitement.

“You know, if it weren’t for the fact that you have the matching mark to mine, I would swear you only took my collar so you could cause trouble for me with my baby brother,” he muttered as he laced their hands together.

“Well, of course,” he smirked at him as he added, “Taking your collar was just a bonus.”

Whatever Alec was going to respond with was cut off as the doors opened and Robert and Max stepped through.

“Magnus!” Max shouted as he ran to him.

“Maxie,” he laughed as he let go of Alec’s hand and knelt to catch the young sub in his arms, wrapping him up in a warm hug, “Oh, I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too, Mags,” he giggled as he buried his head in Magnus’ shoulder.

“Hey, what about me!” Alec jokingly glared at the young boy as he knelt beside them.

“Of course, I missed you,” Max smiled at him as he threw himself into his big brother’s arms.

“Good, I missed you too.” He tightened his arms around him before he pulled back to look at him in the face and asked, “So, what are you doing back here so soon?”

“Got in trouble in Mumbai,” he shrugged as he cast Magnus a small smirk.

“What did you do?” he asked as he tried to ignore the building mirth that he could feel coming from his submissive.

“Nothing!” he promised, wide eye and innocent smile.

“Sorry, buddy, I know Magnus taught you that smile. It doesn’t work for him and it’s not going to work for you.”

“He started a fire with his stele during rune study,” Robert answered.

“I told you, I was hungry,” he defended as looked up at his father before he turned to his brother and with his innocent smile added, “I was trying to draw the nourishment rune.”

“Those two runes look nothing alike, Max,” Alec scolded, trying to keep a stern look on his face.

“Well, they do to me.” He shrugged, still with an innocent smile on his face.

“Max, go to up to your room and open up the Grey Book and study the extinguish rune,” Robert ordered.

Max sighed and began to walk past his brother and Magnus, as he passed the warlock he sent him a mischievous smirk, causing him to bite his lip to stop him from laughing.

“You’re a bad influence on him,” Alec scolded his mate as he stood, as he helped Magnus up he smirked, “Or you’re a bad influence on each other.”

“Yes, yes, we are,” Magnus agreed with an unrepentant grin.

Robert cleared his throat and greeted awkwardly, “Alec, Magnus.”

“Father,” Alec turned to him as Magnus nodded.

“Your mother…”

“Should be in the guest office awaiting Izzy and Jace’s return,” he quickly interrupted. He didn’t want his father saying anything about the marriage as he realised that he still had to tell Magnus about it, and he didn’t want his sub to hear about it from anyone but him.

Robert quickly looked to Magnus before looking back at his son, nodding and walking past them. He paused at the end of the corridor as Alec called out to him.

Alec waited until he turned to him before he told him, “I didn’t get the chance to tell mother, but I’m sure you both understand that the rules regarding Magnus are still in effect.”

“Of course,” he assured him before he walked away.

He let out a deep, tired sigh as he turned and pulled Magnus into a tight hug, resting their foreheads together.

“You okay?” Magnus whispered.

“I’m fine, tired but I’m fine.” He smiled at him as he pulled back and placed a quick kiss on his forehead and, keeping an arm wrapped around his waist, began to lead him down the corridor. “What do you have planned for the rest of the day?”

“I have some clients that I have to call to rearrange their appointments, and then I’ll check in on Luke, and the representatives.” He wrapped his own arm around his mate’s waist as he smirked up at him he added, “Of course I’m going to spend some time with Max.”

“Just, please, promise me you won’t set the Institute on fire,” he jokingly pleaded.

“I can make no such promises,” he chuckled before he asked, “What about you?”

“Paperwork, maybe get some training in, nothing much I can do while we wait.”

“Okay,” Magnus nodded as they came to a stop at the end of the corridor. He leaned in to brush a kiss across his lips before he offered, “I’ll try and meet you for something to eat later?”

“Sounds good,” he agreed before he pressed a quick kiss to his temple and watched as Magnus turned and made his way to the infirmary. Once his sub was out of his sight he turned and went to his office. He sat at his desk for all of ten minutes before he gave up on the reports and quickly changed into his training gear. He knew he wouldn’t get any work done when his mind was in chaos from everything that was happening, and he knew the repetitive actions of training would help him calm down and work things through.

 

*** ** ***

 

Magnus entered the infirmary, surprised to find it quiet and empty except for Luke, still laid out in his bed.

“Luke,” he greeted as he walked over to him. He clicked his fingers and waved his glowing hands over him. With a smile at the werewolf he told him, “You’re doing better, venom is all gone. I’ll let the nurse know that you can try and get up to walk soon.”

“Thank god,” he muttered, he looked sheepishly up at Magnus he quickly added, “Not that I don’t appreciate everything that you’ve done, but I just,” with a small shrug he finished, “The Institute and all.”

“I understand,” Magnus chuckled, “Even after all these years, I can admit it took me a while to get used to just visiting Alexander here, never mind what it took to live here.” The two men shared a laugh before Magnus asked, “Where are Clary and Simon?”

“Simon went home. I think everything was starting to get to him,” he said, unable to hide the concern he felt for the boy.

“Well, he was kidnapped twice in two days,” Magnus muttered a little sarcastically, before he frowned and asked, “Clary didn’t go home with him, did she?”

“No,” he frowned at the worry he could see coming from the warlock. He could tell it wasn’t just concern for the girl’s safety, but not knowing what had happened to cause it, he quickly finished, “She went looking for Jace. She thinks she remembered something that could help find Jocelyn.”

“Jace and Izzy are on a mission.”

Luke was surprised to hear the bitterness in the other man’s voice, he didn’t know either of the men all that well, but he was more familiar with the easy going and caring attitude of the warlock and assumed that he would care for his soulmate’s parabatai. He was worried that it could be related to why he was worried about Clary’s whereabouts, so with some caution he told him, “Then I guess she’ll try to find Alec.”

“Oh, that’s going to end well,” he muttered, seeing Luke worry and confusion he explained, “Alec is… having some… issues with her right now.”

“Why? What happened?”

“You mean beside the fact that she almost got me killed, she also…”

“Wait she what?” Luke broke in, shocked.

Magnus let out a tired sigh as he sat on the bed beside Luke and explained everything that had happened over the last three days.

“Are you serious?” he muttered, alarmed at the girl’s rash and thoughtless behaviour.

“She wants to find her mother and she’ll do whatever it takes to find her. Even if it means others getting hurt in the process.”

“That is not the girl I know,” he sighed as he leaned back in his bed, with a shake of his head he added, “I’ll talk to her. Try and get her to understand.”

“Thank you,” Magnus stood up and added, “I should go and find Alec, make sure they haven’t killed each other.”

He heard Luke laugh as he left the infirmary in search of his mate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, quick question.
> 
> I've been working on some of the one shot and was interested in which you would like to read first.
> 
> A) One shot of Alec growing up with a broken bond.  
> B) The flip side of Magnus life without the bond until he suddenly developed the mark (This is turning out to be a chaptered fic)  
> C)I have a one shot planned with Magnus and friends (including the OC's I introduce in this story) creating the Shadow Council and new Clave.  
> D) The first time Magnus and Alec meet and Marsye plot to kill him (this is still in the early stages.)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> betad by the-eleventhfangirl

Alec spent the first ten minutes in the training room warming up before he moved on to the punching bag. He had worked up a sweat when he decided to start training with the staff. He was lost in the rhythm of the staff hitting the punching bag when he heard Clary calling his name as she ran into the training room. He bit back a groan as he ignored her and continued with his training.

“Alec, do you know where Jace is?” she asked as she came to stand beside the bag, watching him.

“He and Izzy are out on a mission,” he grunted.

“Okay, well, then I need to talk to you,” she said. “When I was talking to Luke, I think I remembered something important that could help us find my mom,” she quickly added when he ignored her and continued to train. “My mom had this box, I don't think she knew that I knew about it, but she would get it out once a year and cry.”

“Because?” he asked, still working out, but starting to pay her a little more attention.

“I don’t know,” she quickly said, happy that he was finally listening to her, “but Luke said it belongs to my father and… and my brother.”

“You have a brother?” he frowned at her, giving her his full attention.

“I had a brother,” she swallowed as she bit her lip as she tried to fight back her tears, swallowing heavily she quickly added, “I didn’t know, just another secret she kept from me. Luke said he di... died in the fire that was supposed to have killed Valentine. He …Valentine started the fire…” she paused and took a deep breath to calm her angry and bitter tears before she finished, “Whatever was in that box meant a lot to her. Maybe we could use whatever it is to track her or even find the Cup.”

“Where would we find it?” he asked as he walked over to the weapons wall and put away his staff. He picked up his towel and swiped at his face, mopping up the sweat.

“It would still be at our apartment," she said, getting excited at the prospect of finding a lead that could possibly help find her mother. When he didn’t seem to be moving she urged, “Well, let’s go.”

“We can’t, at least not now.”

“Alec…”

“Clary, we can’t leave the Institute,” he let out another annoyed sigh as he explained again, “We have to be here for the Representatives, especially you as you’re who they are really coming here to question.”

“But Alec…”

She was cut off by the sound of a cell ringing and Magnus entering the training room. The warlock pulled out his phone and answered it as he climbed the stairs.

“Evelyn, that was quick,” he said as he walked over to Alec and Clary. He frowned as he listened to what she had to say before answering, “Are you sure?” He sighed at whatever she had said. “Right, well, thank you.”

He hung up and pocketed his phone, taking Alec’s hand and leading him to the back of the training room away from Clary.

“What’s going on?” Alec asked as Magnus stopped and turned to face him.

“Well, as you probably heard that was Evelyn. She said that neither the Clave nor the Seelies are talking. The Clave are insisting that they asked the Seelies for their help and the Seelies are just not talking at all. Not even the Seelie Council members are talking.”

“So something bad has happened.” Alec finished for him.

“Looks like,” he agreed before he added, “And that’s not all. The Institute, and by extension you and me or at least our conduct, are going to be investigated regarding the attack on the Dumort Clan and the incident with the Jade Wolf Pack.”

Alec groaned as he leaned back against the wall, banging his head lightly as he muttered, “It’s okay, we knew something like that might happen.”

Magnus bit his lip nervously as he watched his dominant. As he could feel his anger and frustration beginning to build, he cleared his throat and offered, “Alexander…Sir…If …if its the promise you made me…then…”

“Hey, no.” Alec said as he straightened up and cupped Magnus face and twisted them so that he had Magnus up against the wall, “I won’t break my promise to you. I can’t. I think… I think that whatever’s going to happen needs to happen. It may be the only way for them to learn.”

“I don’t want to be the reason that you, Izzy and Jace fall out,” he whispered.

“You won’t.” He kissed him lightly before pulling back and resting their heads together, “I think I need this just as much as they do. They need to learn that their actions have consequences and that I’m tired of being the one to catch those consequences, and I need to learn when to let go. Thay are grown adults now and.... and if they are old enough to sneak out and break the rules then they're old enough to face the consequences. I know that I’m just as at fault for not telling them what happens when they screw up but I’m…”

“I know,” Magnus interrupted him. He tipped his head back to place a kiss across his lips as he went on to reassure him, “If this is really what you want, then you have my full support.”

“I know,” he smiled as he leaned in to place a lingering kiss across his lips. They got lost in each other’s comfort before he pulled back and frowned as he realised how quiet it was. He turned around and cursed when he saw that Clary was missing.

“What’s wrong?”

“Clary’s gone,” he gritted through his teeth as he quickly scanned the room for the red head “She was talking about remembering something that could help find her mom. She wanted to go back to her apartment to find it and she wasn’t happy when I told her that we had to stay here.”

“So she slipped out while we were talking,” Magnus finished for him.

“Of course she did.” He sighed as he turned back to Magnus, “We need to get her back here before the Reps get here.”

“I know, I’ll go after her,” he offered.

“You can’t,” he rubbed his hands through his hair as he let out a frustrated groan, “You need to be here for the Reps just as much as I do.”

“True, but I can portal to her apartment and hopefully bring her back before the Reps get here,”

“We,” Alec insisted as he took his hand and him in closer to him, “If you are set on going after her then I’m coming with you.”

“Okay,” Magnus nodded, he knew from the determined look on his mate’s face that there would be no arguing with him. He clicked his fingers and Alec was changed from his training gear to his regular work clothes with his weapons. “Ready?”

“Yes, thank you.” He pressed a kiss to his temple as he stepped back to allow Magnus some space to open a portal, taking the hand that Magnus held out for him and following him through the portal into Clary’s destroyed apartment.

“Jace wasn’t kidding when he said the place was destroyed,” Magnus remarked as he closed the portal and looked around the fire-damaged apartment.

“No, I guess not,” he muttered as he too looked around, “She’s not here yet. We should look around and see if there’s anything we can use…” he trailed off as he frowned and turned to Magnus and asked, “Did you or anybody try tracking for Jocelyn?”

“No,” Magnus shook his head as he thought about the last three days. He let out a little embarrassed laugh as he said, “Bit of an oversight on our part huh?”

“Yeah, let just keep that between us,” Alec let out his own embarrassed laugh before he asked, “Do you think you could find something here to try tracking her?” When Magnus gave a quick nod he added, “I’ll have a look around and see if there’s anything that can give us some idea as to where Valentine is,” he finished with a muttered “should have done that too.”

Magnus quietly looked around the apartment as he picked up things here and there, wrinkling his nose at the soot, and trying to use them to track Jocelyn. He turned to Alec as he came back into the room.

“Everything is too damaged to get any solid trace on her,” he picked up what he thought was a photo frame, concentrating. He explained, “I can sense her, but I can’t see, find, her. There is something else, like there’s a block and I can’t tell if it’s something that Valentine is doing or if it’s the potion that Ragnor brewed.”

“Do you have any idea where Ragnor is?” he asked as leaned his hip against the burned couch.

“No!” Magnus scowled as he began to pace, adding, “You know Ragnor has secluded himself away. He sends us a fire message, untraceable of course, every few weeks just to let us know he is still alive…”

Alec smirked as he watched Magnus pace, he did know this. Ragnor had been one of Magnus witnesses at their bonding ceremony, but he had secluded himself away shortly after and every time they received one of his fire messages Magnus would go on one of these rants against his friend.

“Magnus,” he called to get his attention, because despite how much fun it was to watch his mate get worked up they were on a bit of a time limit.

“Right, sorry.” He blushed lightly before he straightened up and turned to him and said, “There are one or two places that I think he might be, but with Valentine hunting warlocks…”

“He might have gone deeper underground,” Alec finished for him.

“Yes.”

They tensed as the heard voices outside the apartment only to relax as they recognised Simon chattering away as they entered the apartment.

“I’m just saying that whoever drew the tags was kinda sloppy.”

“You can see the runes?” Magnus asked the two friends as they entered the living room.

“What…what are you guys doing here?” Clary asked shocked to see the two men in her apartment.

Magnus ignored her as he stepped closer to Simon and asked again, “You can see the runes?”

“Well, yeah,” he shrugged as he shot a confused look at the warlock, “They’re not that hard to miss.”

“For a Shadowhunter or the warlock that cast them,” he said as he studied the young submissive, before asking, “When did you get the Sight?”

“I don’t …I don’t know…”

“What are you doing here?” Clary spoke louder this time gaining all of their attention.

“Where here to take you back to the Institute,” Alec glared at her.

“But the box…we need it,” she snapped at him.

“I know.”

“But you said…”

“That we couldn’t leave the Institute,” he finished for her with a glare. “But if you had waited until after I had talked to Magnus then you would have known that I had planned for us to come here after we had spoken to the Representatives.”

“Oh,” she blushed and looked away from him.

“Clary, I am not your enemy or whatever you seem to think I am,” he said, trying to make her understand. “If I say you can’t do something I have a valid reason. I wasn’t just concerned about you staying for the Representatives, but also for your safety. For all you know Valentine could have his men watching this apartment waiting for you.” When she didn’t say anything he huffed an irritated breath as he said, “Just find the box and so we can get back to the Institute.”

Clary looked around the burnt down apartment and sighed sadly, “There’s nothing left of me here.”

“I think that was deliberate.” He quickly went on to explain at her questioning look, “Your mother was trying to erase any trace that you existed so that you couldn’t be tracked. She was trying to protect you.”

“Let’s see how well that worked,” she muttered.

“You’re alive aren’t you?” Alec rolled his eyes.

He turned to Magnus and smiled as he watched his submissive give a small pout as he looked down at his ruined shoes. He walked over to his mate and entwined their hands together, asking “You okay?”

“No, this soot has ruined one of my favourite pair of boots,” he pouted up at his dom.

Alec laughed and cupped the back of his head as he pulled his into a light kiss and as he pulled back he promised, “I’ll buy you a new pair.”

“These floor boards,” Simon’s voice coming from the Jocelyn’s bedroom interrupted their private moment, “They sound different in these two different spots,” he looked up as the two mates joined him and Clary in the bedroom and seeing their blank looks he asked, “Can’t you hear it?” When they said nothing he pressed down on the floor board saying, “I think this one is loose.”

He knelt and began to pull the loose floorboard up, revealing a hole in the floor, he went to reach in only to be stopped as Alec reached out and grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Move out of the way,” he ordered as he gently shoved the other sub back and turned to Magnus with a raised eyebrow and nodded to the floor.

“What are you doing?” Clary asked as they watched as Magnus stepped closer and waved his hand over the missing floor board.

“Your mother was a Shadowhunter and you said it was important to her, so important that she hid it under the floor. It could be protected,” Alec explained as he watched over his submissive.

“It’s clean,” Magnus said as he took a step back.

Alec nodded as he reached in and pulled out a small wooden box. He held it out to Clary asking, “Is this the box?”

“Yes,” she reached out and took it from him. “She used to wait until I was in bed and thought I was asleep to take it out,” she gently ran her hand over the box tracing the J.C before opening it and reverently touched the baby booties and lock of blond hair, “This…this belonged to my brother.”

“Brother?” Simon asked.

Glass breaking in the other room caused them all to turn and tense.

“Magnus!” Alec said as he pulled his bow off is shoulder arrow ready.

“Already on it, darling,” Magnus said as a portal opened and pushed Simon through it and reached out to grip the girl’s arm to get her through next. As soon as she was through he grabbed Alec by the back of his jacket and pulled him through. He closed the portal as soon as the two stepped into the Institute.

“Clary?” Jace said as he and Izzy had stepped into the hall.

He and Izzy had just returned from the Seelie realm and had been in the Ops Centre to find Alec or their mother to report back when they heard the noise in the hall and came to investigate.

“Jace!” Clary smiled as she launched herself into the dominant’s arms and hugged him. She pulled back and grinned up at him as she said, “We found something that I think could help us find my mom.”

“You took her out of the Institute?” he turned to glare at Alec.

“I didn’t take her out, she snuck out and you’re welcome for bringing her back in one piece.” He barged past them, calling over his shoulder as he stormed down the corridor to the personal quarters, “I want you both in my office in five minutes to report.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betad by the-eleventhfangirl

Magnus huffed as he shook his head and quickly followed Alec down the corridor and into their rooms. He took a deep breath to calm his growing anger, he needed to be calm and clearheaded to help his dom. Once he was sure he was calm enough he stepped into their bedroom, closed the door and leaned against it as he watched his dom throw his jacket on the bed and began to pace.  
  
“Are you okay?” he asked

“I’m…I just… I want this over,” he sighed as he walked over and crowded him up against the door, “It’s only been three days and everything…it’s all fucked up…Jace and Izzy…I just want the Representatives here so I know what the damage is going to be.”

“I know,” Magnus whispered as he stretched up on his toes to press a kiss on his forehead before dropping back down and after placing a kiss on his lips he asked “Do you need me?”

Alec groaned as he wrapped his arms tighter around his mate's waist and buried his head in his neck. Nipping lightly at his mark he rested his head on his shoulder saying, “I always need you and right now there is nothing I want more than to bury myself in you, in every way that I can think of, but what I want to do, we don’t have time for.”

Magnus moaned as he tipped his head back as Alec began to press nips and kisses up his neck. He ran his hands through Alec’s hair as he sighed and melted against the door, trusting his dom to keep them safe. Alec trailed kisses along his jaw until he reached his mouth and pulled him into a deep kiss. He lightened the kiss, nipping at his lips as he pressed their foreheads together.

“We should get back to my office,” he let out a deep, disappointed sigh as he straightened up and pressed a kiss on Magnus’ forehead. He stepped back and resting his hands on his sub’s hips as he said, “But I promise one day soon, I am going to lock us away in a room and just indulge in you, I promise.”

“I’m going to hold you to that promise, sir.”

“Soon,” he pressed a kiss to his lips and stepped back, taking Magnus’ hand and leading him out of their room to the offices. They paused briefly outside one of the guest offices and knocked.

“Come in,” came his mother’s muffled response.

He opened the door and poked his head in, spotting his mother and father seated on the couch, and said, “Izzy and Jace are back. They should be waiting in my office.”

Maryse nodded and said, “We will be right there.”

Alec nodded back before he stepped back and closed the door. He turned and walked to his office, paused to take a steady breath, straightened his shoulders and entered. He glared briefly as he saw Jace and Izzy sprawled lazily on his couch.

“Finally,” Jace snapped as he stood up. Glaring at Alec he began, “The…”

Alec held up his hand and without looking at him said, “We will wait for mother and father to join us.”

He let go of Magnus’ hand as he walked over to his desk, picked up his tablet and flicked through the reports that Stephanie had left for him as he made his way back to Magnus’ side. Magnus bit his lip as he could feel his dominant’s mirth at Jace’s building anger and frustration. A knock at the door had Alec calling for them to come in and they all turned to see Maryse and Robert enter the office.

“Jace,” She smiled as she stepped past Alec and Izzy and wrapped him in a hug. When she pulled back she turned to Izzy and snapped, “Report?”

“They are in mourning,” she said as she stood to face her mother, “They believe that Valentine killed their scouts. It’s why they have broken all contact with the Clave and Council, they are thinking of switching sides.”

“That is totally irrational,” Maryse snapped with an irritated eye roll.

“It’s self preservation,” Magnus said, “They think Valentine can win. They always have.”

“And Seelies always want to be on the winning side,” Izzy finished form him.

“You never can trust a people that can’t lie,” Maryse said as she crossed her arms and sat down in the chair, “They just find more inventive ways to stab you in the back.”

“Well, that is something you have in common with the Seelies,” Alec said as he ignored his mother’s glare. He put the tablet on the small coffee table and sat on the arm of the chair opposite her, he reached out and took Magnus hand and tugged him down into the chair. He waited until Jace, Izzy and Robert had sat on the couch before he asked Magnus, “What did you mean about the Seelies always thinking that Valentine could win?”

“Not all of them believed that, but during the first Uprising the Seelies’ loyalties were divided. Some supported him and others opposed him,” Magnus explained.

“And now?” Alec asked.

“I’m not sure.” Magnus frowned slightly as he tried to explain, “The Seelie Queen that is ruling now, well, compared to Seelie life spans, is relatively new to ruling. She took over when the previous Queen, who opposed Valentine, was killed not that long after the Uprising was quelled. This Queen rarely leaves her realm and never gets involved with Downworlder and Shadowhunter business.”

“So, there really is no way to know which way the Seelies are going to side with,” Alec summarised.

“From talking to Meliorn it seemed as if they would choose to fight against Valentine,” Izzy offered.

“Until Valentine offers them a deal that they can’t turn down,” Robert said.

Nobody said anything as they all knew the truth in his statement.

“What did you learn from the Council?” Maryse asked Alec.

“Basically what we already know. They have ceased all communication and are not explaining why,” Magnus answered, adding, “But I was informed that there would be an investigation as to why and to ensure that the Clave’s conduct with the Seelies was appropriate.”

“As I said. It was. Now, I should inform the Clave of what we have learned,” Maryse said as she stood up and turned and walked out off the office.

Robert stood and made to follow but paused at the door as he turned back to his eldest son, “Alec, I’m aware that you have given orders that we have to leave as soon as Jace and Izzy had returned, but I was hoping that we could stay for a few more days, for Max, he has missed all of you.”

Alec ignored Izzy and Jace’s look of surprise at their father’s words. He knew they understood how he felt about his parents being in the Institute, especially if Magnus was in the Institute, but he had always allowed Max, and by extension their father, to stay. Magnus squeezed his hand in reassurance and he said, “Of course, you and Max are both welcome to stay.”

“Thank you,” he said and quickly turned to follow Maryse out if the office.

“I’m going to go and find Clary,” Jace muttered as he stood up and left.

Izzy gave them a small smile, stood up and said, “I’m going to go and find Max,” as she too left the office.

Alec sighed as he stood and pulled Magnus up out of the chair before he slipped into the seat and pulled Magnus down into his lap. Magnus ran his free hand through his mate’s hair, scratching at his scalp, smiling lightly as Alec gave a quiet moan of pleasure.

“Are you going to tell me what Maryse has done to put you so on edge?” he asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace that had settled in the office.

“Mother has informed me that she and father have found a respectable Shadowhunter for me to marry,” Alec told him, also keeping his voice low.

Magnus bit is lip to stop his laugh breaking through as he continued to run a soothing hand through Alec’s hair. When he was sure he had his laughter under control he asked, “And her response when you told her no?”

Alec laughed and reached up to cup his check and pulled him into a kiss before he answered, “Well she wasn’t happy.”

“No, I imagine she wasn’t,” he murmured as he leaned forward to place a kiss on his mate’s temple.

“You know I would never do anything that would make you doubt my commitment to you,” he whispered as he turned to look him in the eye.

“I know,” Magnus smiled as he quickly kissed him, “Alexander you gave up your mortality to bond your heart and soul with mine. I could never doubt you, I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Alec smiled, bringing him in to another kiss. As he deepened the kiss they both groaned as Alec’s phone began to ring.

Magnus chuckled as he stood up, helped Alec out of his seat and pushed him towards his desk. After a quick conversation, he hung up and turned to lean against his desk as he frowned at his sub.

“What?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked as he crossed his arms, still frowning at him.

“Tell you what?” he asked. Although Alec looked upset Magnus could feel through their bond that he wasn’t angry or upset, so he wasn’t too concerned, just a little confused.

“Why didn’t you tell me that the Council Representative will be Emmett Hewllet?”

Magnus bit his lip as he tried to stop from laughing at his dom’s whining. Emmett was the epitome of a vampire. He was tall, dark and brooding and he loved to tease Alec by flirting with Magnus at every opportunity.

Once he was sure he wouldn’t laugh he said, “I didn’t know,” and stepped in between his legs to wrap his arms around his waist as he promised, “I didn’t. Besides, Emmett is a professional. He knows how serious this is and will be on his best behaviour.”

“He better be,” Alec muttered as he wrapped his own arms around his mate’s waist, pressing a kiss on his forehead before he reluctantly nudged Magnus back and stood up, “Come on, I’m hungry. Let’s go and get something to eat.”

Magnus smiled, reached out to take Alec’s hand and led them out of the office and towards the residential area.

“Magnus! Alec!” Max shouted as he ran down the corridor and slammed into Magnus’ legs.

“Hey, kiddo,” Alec said as he quickly let go of Magnus’ hand to place it on his back to steady him as he reached down to gently nudged the boy back a little, “What’s got you in a rush?”

“Dad brought Izzy back a new cook book,” he shuddered as he added, “She wants to try a new recipe.”

“You know I’m feeling a little tired. I think I’m just going to our rooms and summon something there to eat,” Magnus suggested slyly.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Max smirked up at him as he took Magnus hand and began to pull him towards their room. He looked to Alec as he asked, “Alec, do you think you can get my stele back from dad for me?”

“From what I understand, they took it from you because you nearly burnt down the Mumbai Institute,” Alec told him.

“How many times do I have to say it was an accident?” he whined.

“Don’t whine. It’s unbecoming,” Magnus chided him gently.

“But…”

“Look, Max.” Alec gently pulled him to a stop and knelt down to look him in the eye, “There is some really bad things happening and tonight there are some really important people coming to visit for a couple of days. So, I’m going to need you to stay out of trouble for a few days. If you do I can promise to try and get your stele back for you.” He watched as he looked up at Magnus and rolled his eyes as he too looked up and ordered, “That goes for you too.”

“Oh, but I am always on my best behaviour.” Magnus smiled at him innocently, causing Max to giggle.

He stifled his laugh as he held out his hand and helped his dom up. He twined their fingers together as they began to lead Max back to their room. They tensed as the Portal doors opened and Valentine walked through. Alec dropped his hand and pushed Max and Magnus behind him, readying his bow. Magnus drew a shield around Max and fired his arrow at Valentine. He frowned as Valentine caught the arrow and was already getting the next arrow ready when Valentine dropped the arrow and brought out his stele, running it over a rune on his forearm. He shimmered as he morphed in that of young blonde woman.

“That response time was abysmal,” she sighed, disappointed. She looked at Alec and Magnus and praised, “Except for you two.”

She walked up to Alec and waited for him to lower his bow and held out her. She smiled as he took her offered hand, “I’m Lydia Branwell, Clave Representative.”

The portal doors opened and a small contingent of Shadowhunters came through.

“Alec Lightwood-Bane,” he began to explain only to trail off as he dropped her hand and brought his bow back up. Arrow ready, he demanded, “What is he doing here?”

“Alexander,” Magnus said softly as he reached his hand out and gently placed it on his back. He could feel his mate’s anger and rage as his husband stepped in front of him, his grip tightening on his bow. He tried to tamp down on his own anger and fear as he kept his eyes on the back of Alec’s head, so that he could try and help calm his mate.

“He is banned from stepping foot into this Institute and city,” he growled, his eyes darting to Lydia before his glare went back to Raj.

“Lower your weapon, Lightwood,” Lydia snapped as she stepped in between the two men.

“He is not welcome here,” he snarled, weapon still raised.

“I am aware of the banishment placed on him,” she said. She held up her hands and said in a placating manner, “Raj has been working for me for the past year.”

“I don’t care.”

“Alexander, please,” Magnus whispered as he tried to calm his mate down.

“I know what he did,” she took a tentative step towards him, putting a hand on his bow as she tried to reason with him, “And I understand your anger, but I trust him and I need him here to help me do my duty. He is here on strict restrictions. He is not to be allowed to be near Magnus, he is not to be left alone with him at any time and he will be by my side at all times.”

“That is not going to happen, as he won’t be here,” Alec snapped as he took a step back from her, placing his back up against his mate’s chest.

“Alexander, it will be alright,” Magnus whispered as he pressed up against his mate’s back, “You’re scaring Max, please.”

Alec tensed before he took a deep breath and he relaxed, completely lowering his bow. He switched his glare to Lydia as he insisted, “If he so much as takes a step towards Magnus I will end him.” Lydia nodded, and he quickly added, “I have one more stipulation. My parents are in the Institute, if I find him alone with them, anywhere near them, I will hold you responsible.”

“He will follow all of the conditions placed on him,” Emmett said as he stepped up beside Lydia and reassured him, “It was the only reason the Council agreed to allow him to step foot in the Institute.”

Alec let out a shuddering breath as he nodded to the vampire and insisted, “I am also going to hold you responsible if anything happens.”

“Of course,” Emmett nodded.

Magnus let out his own sigh of relief as he let his shield drop. With a wave of his hand he returned Alec’s bow and arrow back to the weapons room. He took his dom’s hand, twined their fingers together and gave it a quick squeeze as he promised, “I’ll follow any and all instruction you give regarding him and your parents.”

“Yes, you will,” he ordered as he squeezed back. He turned, still keeping himself between Magnus and Raj, as he looked at his baby brother and asked, “You okay?”

“I’m…I’m fine,” Max stammered lightly as he nodded at his brother.

“Of course he is,” Magnus smiled at him as he winked at him, “He’s a brave Shadowhunter, just like his big brother, right?”

“Right,” he nodded repeatedly.

“That’s right, you are.” Alec smiled at him.

“The Clave has sent some additional Shadowhunters to help in the hunt of Valentine,” Lydia said as she broke into the family moment.

“Thank you, we can go to the Ops Centre,” he looked over his shoulder at her as he began to lead them to the Ops Centre, keeping Magnus and Max between him and Raj, as he explained, “Stephanie, my operations manager will set you up with some quarters for them. She’s also set up some quarters for you and Emmett as well as one of the guest offices for you to use during your visit here.”

“Thank you,” she smiled at him.

He nodded at her as they entered the Ops Centre. He looked around until he spotted Stephanie and called out to her, “Stephanie, the Clave has sent some extra men to help, could you arrange some quarters for them?”

“Yes, sir,” she said as she quickly followed his orders.

“Emmett and I will set up in the office you’ve arranged, and we will set up the interviews for you and the others. We’ll let you know when we’re ready.” She paused as she looked around the well-ordered Operations Centre. Not finding what she was looking for she turned to Alec and asked, “We’d like to start with Clarissa Fairchild.”

“Okay,” he nodded as he turned back to Stephanie and asked, “Can you have someone escort them to their office and get someone to bring Clary here.”

“You don’t have her secured?” Lydia asked as she turned to look at him in surprise.

“She’s in the Institute,” he defended.

“Are you telling me that Valentine’s daughter is running freely around the Institute?” Lydia demanded.

“Isn’t she also your cousin?” Izzy said as she and her mother stepped down the stairs into the Ops Centre.

“Distant cousin,” Lydia defended calmly.

“She’s in the infirmary visiting an injured family friend,” Izzy told her.

“Ah, Luke Garroway, formerly Lucian Greymark and Valentine’s parabatai,” Lydia said as she waked around the room, inspecting the Shadowhunters as they worked.

“He’s also the new alpha of the Jade Wolf Pack, isn't that correct?” Emmett asked as he stepped up beside Alec and Magnus.

“That is correct,” Magnus confirmed.

“So, you have two very intimate connections to Valentine running around the Institute and you’ve taken no precautions,” Lydia demanded again.

“Luke is hardly running around, he’s in the infirmary recovering.” Magnus scoffed at her.

“Jace is also there with her,” Izzy added.

“The same Jace Wayland who decided to lead an unsanctioned raid against the Dumort Clan that ruined a two months investigation in to said clan and causing Camille Belcourt to go into hiding?” Emmett asked.

“That sounds like him,” Magnus muttered.

“Jace may be unconventional, but he is our best soldier,” Maryse defended the blond, pride clear in her voice, “If she’s with him, then she’s in very good hands.”

“Yes, well, I guess that remains to be seen,” Emmett said with a roll of his eyes. He had heard all the stories of the great Jace Wayland, but he knew the man personally and couldn’t stand the cocky, arrogant nuisance, “Jace Wayland will be the second person we’ll be questioning.”

“Questioning?” Maryse asked, with a little huff she added, “You make it sound as if he is in trouble for simply following orders.”

“Well isn’t that one of the reasons we're here?” Emmett asked as he turned to face her. “To see just how much trouble your son is in?”

“Maybe now would be a good time to show them to their office,” Magnus suggested quickly to avoid any argument breaking out. He looked to Stephanie, who quickly nodded and escorted the representatives out of the Ops Centre to their temporary office.

“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Magnus mumbled.

“Tell me about it,” Alec sighed back before he turned and knelt down to face his younger brother, “Max?”

“I know,” he sighed, “Go to my room and stay out of trouble.”

“Thank you, buddy.” He smiled, patted his shoulder and stood up.

Max turned to Magnus and tugged on the sleeve of his jacket and pulled him down so he could whisper in the others ear.

Magnus smiled and nodded, “I promise to try, okay.”

“But…”

“Max, remember what we just talked about,” he said as he knelt beside him. He waited until the young sub nodded as he finished, “So, you understand that we are very busy right now, but I promise that I’ll try.”

“Okay, thank you,” he said as he quickly hugged Magnus, then Alec, before he ran back to the resident quarters.

“What was that about?” Alec asked as he help him back up.

“He wanted me to read him a story before he goes to bed,” he smiled as he added, “I think he was just a little embarrassed to ask in front all the adults.”

“What’s going on?” Jace demanded as he stormed into the room, followed by Clary and the Shadowhunter that had been sent to fetch them. “Why did we just get dragged out of the infirmary to come here?”

“The representatives have arrived and they wish to start their questioning with Clary and then you.” Alec informed them as they stopped in front of them.

“When?” he demanded as he crossed his arms and glared at them.

“When they’re ready for you.” Alec shrugged as he walked past him to stand by Stephanie at the main computer. He picked up one of the tablets and began to scroll through it, pointing out something at her and nodded at her response.

“So, what I’m just supposed to hang around here until they want to see me?” Clary snapped, annoyed that she had been dragged away from Luke, and now here she was being made to wait and being ignored by Alec again. She shot him a glare before she turned to Izzy and Jace, “We could be using this time to try and find my mother. The box, there has to be some way for us to use it to find her.”

“We will,” Alec told her. He handed the tablet back to Stephanie before he turned to Clary and said, “And as I have told you, repeatedly, we have to wait until we have all spoken with the representatives.”

“Aren’t you going to do something to stop this?” Maryse demanded of her son.

“What is it you think I can do?” he asked her, “It’s not like they didn’t break the Accords by attacking a Downworlder residence.”

“To rescue the mundane that they kidnapped,” Jace defended.

“And the only reason the mundane was kidnapped was because you took him out on an unsanctioned mission to the City, which was against my explicit orders,” Alec said. “What is it you think I can do?”

“Something,” Jace snapped with a glare, “Anything? Just do something that will stop the Clave and Council from coming and pushing us about.”

“They aren’t pushing us about. They are doing their job,” Alec said, “It’s not my fault that it was your irresponsible and reckless behaviour that brought them here. If you have a problem with them being here maybe you should start acting like the responsible and respected Shadowhunter you’re always claiming to be.”

“Where is the box?” Magnus quickly asked, talking over whatever Jace was going to say to try and stop any arguments.

“It’s with Luke,” Clary told him.

“Okay, then, after I’ve seen to Luke, I’ll check over the box and see if I can find anything that might help us.”

“What do you mean see to Luke?” Clary asked him.

“Last time I checked on him he was almost fully healed. So, I would imagine that he would be fit and ready to go home now.”

“But he can’t go. He has to stay here and help look for my mom.”

“And I’m sure he will help in any way he can.” Magnus explained to her, “But Luke in a new alpha werewolf, which means he has responsibilities to his pack.”

“But…”

“Clary, the Institute, Clave and the Council will dedicate all their time in searching for Valentine and your mother.” Magnus began to explain to her, trying not to snap at her, “While I won’t deny that Luke loves you and your mother, he is a new alpha and now has new responsibilities towards his pack. A pack that is unstable and will lose control if Luke does not go back and take control of the pack.”

“Luke is the closet thing I have to a father…”

“But he is not,” Lydia said as she and Emmett entered the Ops Centre.

“What?”

“Luke is not your father,” Lydia said as she stepped down into the room, “And Magnus is correct. Luke needs to return to his pack and regain control over them.”

“Ms. Branwell is correct,” Emmett added, “An out of control pack is something that nobody wants. Now, if your done with your little temper tantrum, it is time for you to come with us and be questioned.”

He didn’t wait for her to say anything and turned and walked away.

“Come along,” Lydia said as she took her elbow and gently led the stunned girl out of the room.

Alec held up his hand to stop whatever his brother was about to say. He turned and stepped into his space and glared into his eyes as he coldly reminded him, “I warned you. That night that Magnus was injured, that if you did anything stupid after I ordered you not to that I couldn’t, wouldn’t, help you with whatever trouble you got in to.” He took a step back and walked back to Stephanie to take back the tablet he had handed her before he turned back to Jace and told him, “This is your mess to clean up.”

After a moment of stunned silence passed, Magnus cleared his throat before he stepped up beside Alec and said, “I’m going to go to the infirmary.”

He brushed a kiss across his check before he turned and quickly walked out of the room.

“Magnus, wait!”

He stopped in the corridor as he turned to wait until Alec caught up to him. He could feel his mate worry and he knew what he wanted.

“No!”

“Magnus!” he snapped as he took his mate’s arm and gently tugged him to the side, “I want…”

“I said no,” Magnus interrupted him as he crossed him arms and glared at him.

“Magnus,” he sighed, frustrated, as he ran a hand through his hair. He took a deep breath as he tried to calm his anger. He wasn’t angry at Magnus. He was angry at the situation, and he knew that Magnus was feeling the same.

“I will not have a guard in my own home,” Magnus insisted.

“I know.” He huffed a little at his submissive’s stubbornness. Alec pulled him closer, running his hands up his arms into his hair and gave it a little tug as he chided, “And watch your attitude.”

Magnus tilted his head as he pressed a kiss to his mate’s lips, mumbling, “Sorry, sir.”

“I know,” Alec ran his hand down Magnus’ back and wrapped his arm around his waist, pulling him in and leaning his head against his. “I know you don’t want a guard, but give me a break Magnus. The man that tried to kill you is here in the Institute along with the woman that organised it. So, you can’t blame me that I’m a little bit on edge.”

“You don’t think I’m on edge, too?” Magnus huffed. He pushed Alec back a little as he glared at him, “Like you said, the man that tried to kill me and the woman, your mother, that planned it are in the building, my home. So, I understand about being on edge, but I refuse to let them win and start living in fear. That means living our lives as we always have. Which means no guard.” He took a deep breath as he reached up and cupped his face, “I am the High Warlock and I can look after myself. I need you to trust me that can look after myself.”

“Of course I trust you, like you said, you're the High Warlock. I trust you to look after yourself, me and my family. Doesn’t mean I don’t still worry about you.” He kissed him on the forehead before he looked him in the eye, “Okay, no guard, but you have to promise me that you will never let your guard down and…and just …be safe.”

“That I can promise,” he smiled as he pressed a kiss to his lips, “You have to promise me the same.”

“I promise,” he kissed him back.

“I have to go,” Magnus said as he reluctantly pulled back, “I need to check on Luke and then see what I can do with Jocelyn’s box”

“I know, and I should get back to Stephanie and catch up with their reports.” He pressed a last kiss to his lips as he let him go and stepped back, “Come find me once you’re done and we can get something to eat.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, go,” he gave him a gently nudge as he ordered, “And don’t be long, I know you haven’t eaten anything since we had breakfast.”

“I will,” he promised once again before he turned and began to make his way the Infirmary.

He waited until Magnus had turned the corner before he himself turned and made his way back to the Ops Centre.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait. Had some issue that i need to take care of but i'm back, and i hope you enjoy.
> 
> This is not betaed so all mistakes are mine, but i hopefully got them all.

He waited until Magnus had turned the corner before he himself turned and made his way back to the Ops Centre. He ignored his brother as he paced and was whispering angrily to his sister, who was trying to calm him down.

When Jace saw him entering Ops he stopped pacing and turned to stare at him as he demanded, “What do we do now?”

Alec walked over to Stephanie as he took the tablet off her again and asked, “Has it been updated with the recent reports?”

“Yes, except for the two teams that are still out on patrol.” she told him as she picked up her own tablet, “They’re not due to report in for another hour. There’s also a missive from the Council, it was marked for the Head of the Institute, so it hasn’t been read.”

“Thank you, I haven’t had anything to eat in a while, so I’m going to grab Max and take him to the kitchen and grab some food. If they need me that’s where I’ll be. Magnus will be joining us once he’s finished in the infirmary.” he told her. He frowned as he saw the tiredness in her eyes and told her, “Finish whatever your doing and get Marcus updated and then go get some rest.”

“Alec I’m…”

“Have been on shift for as long as I have, maybe even longer,” he interrupted her, “And I have a feeling that the next few days, weeks even, are going to be busy, so I need everyone at their best.”

“Yes, sir.” she reluctantly agreed as she gave a small nod before she left in search of her second, Marcus.

He walked out of Ops ignoring his sister and brother as they called out to him as he made his way to the residential area to his brothers room. He knocked on the door and smiled as he leaned against the door jam as he watched Max curled up on his bed reading.

“Hey, still hungry?” he asked.

Max jumped slightly at his brothers voice and looked up with smirk as he asked, “Is Izzy still cooking?”

“No, I don’t think so,” he laughed.

“Then I’m starving,” he smiled as he slammed his book shirt and jumped up and off his bed.

Alec laughed as he threw his arm on his brothers shoulders and led him to the kitchen.

“Sandwiches okay?” he asked as he walked over to the fridge and began to pull the things they needed.

“Sounds good,” Max shrugged as he collected glasses and a jug of juice from the fridge. When he went to get some plates Alec told him, “Get one for Magnus too.”

He set the plates down on the table and poured some juice into the glasses as Alec set a tray of sandwiches on to the table. They ate as Alec listened to Max as he filled him in on everything he had been doing at the Mumbai Institute since the last time they saw each other. Max frowned as he felt his brothers mood change as Jace and Izzy entered the kitchen.

“Is there enough to share?” Izzy asked.

“Just leave some for Magnus,” Alec nodded.

“Thanks,” she smiled as she got out two plates and handed one to Jace before she sat down and the two began to select some of the sandwiches.

“Are you looking forward to starting the Academy?” Alec asked Max.

“No,” he sighed as he finished his sandwich.

“Why?” he frowned.

“I’ll be there all the time and I won’t get to see you guys much.”

“Actually you might get to see us more,” Alec explained, at his younger brothers hopeful look he added, “Magnus and I both give guest lectures at the school and sometimes Izzy does too, and we all go to Idris for meetings with the Clave and Council.”

“Yeah, not to mention that you will be in one place, rather than going from one Institute to another, so you’ll be able to make real friends.” Izzy told him to try and cheer him up.

“What if…”

“What?” Alec encouraged him.

“What if nobody likes me?” he mumbled.

“Why wouldn’t they like you?” Izzy asked.

“Because I’m a Lightwood…”

“Why would they have a problem with that?” Jace asked.

“I’m ten, not stupid.” he rolled his eyes at him, “I’ve spent five years in Idris and been to six different Institutes in the last eight months. I here things. I know mom and dad where in the Circle. I know they don’t like Downworlders and that they don’t like the fact that Magnus is Alec’s soulmate, and I know that because of that they hurt Magnus which is why we don’t live here at the Institute any more.”

“That’s right, our parents are not nice people.” Izzy agreed before she explained, “But nobody blames us for what happened. The Clave and the Council know that we don’t agree with our parents.”

“I know that others are still talking about our parents and what they did, but you just need to ignore them and show everyone that we are better than our parents.” Alec smiled at him.

“Sorry to interrupt,” they looked up to find a young dark haired Shadowhunter stood at the entrance.

“Hey, Cleo, what can I do for you?” Alec asked.

“Marcus sent me,” she explained, “He wanted to let you know that Stephanie has retired for the night. He’s sent out tonight’s patrol teams with orders to keep an eye out for anything that might be related to Valentine and the Circle.”

“Thank you,” he nodded, “Can you let Marcus know that I plan on retiring for tonight after I have been questioned.”

“Of course,” she nodded, “The Representatives have also sent me to escort Jace to their office.”

“Where’s Clary?” Jace asked.

“They had her escorted to her quarters. She’s to stay there until morning.” she told him before turning to Alec adding, “They posted a guard at the door.”

“What the hell…”

“Jace she’s just passing on the message,” Alec sighed as he interrupted him. He ignored the glare Jace sent him as he told him, “Go with her.”

“I don’t need to be escorted,” he stood up, glaring at them both.

“She’s just doing what she’s been ordered,” he snapped at him before he muttered, “It’s nice to know that someone here can follow orders,” with a tired sigh he looked up at him and ordered, “Go with her,”

When he looked as if he was going to argue he snapped, “Go, now!”

Jace shot him a final glare as he walked out of the kitchen Cleo quickly jogging to catch up.

“Alec…” Izzy began only to trail off at the look Alec shot her an angry look.

Izzy gave a curt nod before she and Max went back to talking about Max’s stay at the Mumbai Institute. He let out a yawn as he sat back in his chair and absently listened to his brother and sister as he thought about what the Representatives were asking Jace and what he kind of trouble he was getting himself and them into.

He jerked as Izzy kicked him under the table and nodded to the entrance of the kitchen where Cleo stood,again.

“Sorry, what can I do for you?”

“Jace is finished being questioned and they are asking for you now.” she told him.

“Thank you,” he nodded at her as he stood up, “Be good,” he told Max, smirking as the boy stuck his tongue at him and he turned to follow Cleo to the guest office. He knocked and waited.

“Alec,” Emmett greeted as he opened the door, he turned to Cleo and said, “Thank you, we’ll call for you when we need you again.”

“Yes, sir.” she nodded and turned and walked away.

“Please come in,” Emmett said as he opened the door and waited until Alec walked in and closed and walked back round to the desk to stand beside Lydia. “Its good to see you again.”

Alec stood in front of the desk and tensed as he spotted Raj stood just behind Lydia. He took a deep breath to calm the growing anger and turned to Emmett and smiled, “You too, Emmett,” he turned to Lydia and held out his hand, “Ms Branwell.”

“Lydia, please.” she smiled at his as she shook his hand, “Please sit.”

“Lydia,” he agreed as let go off her hand and sat down.

“So, as you know we’ve been called here to begin an investigation into the recent activity in the city.” Lydia said as she and the other two sat down, “We’ve read the reports that have been handed in to both the Clave and the Council, but we’d still like you to talk us through what has happened over the last few days.”

“Of course,” Alec nodded as he began to explain everything that had happened since the night that they had meet Clary, answering any questions that they had.

“You’ve been bonded with Magnus for just over five years now, correct?” Lydia asked, she waited for him to nod before she asked, “Did you know anything about Jocelyn or Clarissa Fairchild?”

“No, as I said I only meet Clary for the first time three nights ago, and I’ve never meet Jocelyn.”

“Magnus never talked about them?” Emmett asked, “He never asked for your help?”

“No, I don’t get involved in Magnus High Warlock duties, unless he ask for my help, either as a Shadowhunter, Head of the Institute or his dominant.”

“What about Valentine? What do you know about him?” Emmett asked.

“The same rumours that every Shadowhunter hears growing up.” he answered, “He was a rogue Shadowhunter who lead a group of renegade Shadowhunters that almost destroyed the world. Of course Magnus and I have discussed his involvement and his history with my parents during the conflict.”

They nodded and Alec watched as they briefly talked to each other before Emmett asked, “Do you believe Clary when she says she doesn’t know where the Cup is or Valentine?”

“Yes,” he answered, he frowned as he thought over the last three days. Despite what he had said to Jace he never doubted the girls fear and panic over losing her mother and then Simon and her need to rescue them, “Yes, I believe that she’s telling the truth. I truly believe that she was in the dark about the Shadow World, until the day she met us.”

“What is your opinion of Clary?” Emmett asked.

He didn’t hesitate to answer, “She’s stubborn, determined and reckless.”

“Reckless?”

“Yes, reckless.” he said as he went onto explain, “She wants to find her mother regardless of the consequences or who may get hurt. She doesn’t listen, doesn’t respect our rules or laws and always does what she thinks is right, no matter what happens.”

“Such as Magnus almost being killed and the mundane boy being kidnapped twice?” Emmett asked.

“Such as.” he agreed, swallowing back the panic as he remembered the devastating pain and anguish at feeling Magnus being torn form him..

“Do you believe that she is a security risk?” Lydia asked him, “Do we need to secure her?”

“No,” Alec said as he went on to explain, “I mean yes I believe she could become a risk, I wouldn’t have called her reckless if I didn’t believe she could pose a security risk, but I also believe that with the right training and discipline she could become a good Shadowhunter.”

Emmett and Lydia again silently conversed before Lydia turned to Raj and said something to which he nodded back. She turned back to Emmett and and again they talked quietly before she turned to Alec and smiled, “Well, I think we are done, for now.”

“We will finish questioning everyone before we discuss our finding later,” Emmett said, “We would like to speak to Magnus next.”

“Of course,”

“He will be our last interview tonight and we’ll pick up tomorrow with Isabelle and then Luke and the mundane boy. We’ll also be talking to some of your people as well as to the Dumort Clan and the Jade Wolf Pack.”

“Luke is in the infirmary, but as you know Magnus was clearing him to go back to his pack.” Alec said, “I can have Stephanie or Marcus contact both the pack and clan to arrange for you to meet with Luke and Raphael, who has taken over as leader to the Dumort Clan.”

“And the boy?” he asked.

“With the girl, Clary, I think.” he frowned as he realised that he hadn’t seen Simon since he had come back from Clary’s apartment.

“We can have someone check the girls room,” Emmett said.

“Then I guess we’re done,” Lydia said as she stood up.

“I’ll go and get Magnus,” Alec said as he too stood up.

“Actually, I was hoping to have a few minutes alone with you,” Lydia asked him. She turned to Raj and nodded to him. Raj nodded back and stood up and walked out of the office. When she noticed that Emmett was still beside her she smiled at him and said, “It’s a personal matter.”

Emmett looked to Alec as he stood up raising a questioning eyebrow. Alec gave a slight shake of his head.

“I’ll send R…call Cleo to go and get Magnus. May I use your office?” he asked Alec , who nodded, before he walked out of the office.

Lydia waited until the door closed before she turned back to Alec and smiled at him as she said, “I just wanted a few minutes to discuss the wedding plans.”

“Wedding plans?” he asked confused.

“I know it’s short notice,” she said as she walked around the desk to stand in front of him, “And our parents said that they would take care of all the arrangements, but I thought we should get some say in the proceeding. I assume that you would want Jace, your parabatai, as your _suggenes_ , and I would…”

“Stop!” he snapped as he held up his hand to get her attention. When she frowned up at him he told her, “There is not going to be a wedding.”

“But, I don’t understand, your mother said you agreed to the marriage.” she frowned up at him.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve only just heard about this farce of a marriage and I’m going to tell you the exact same thing that I told my mother. I am already married and I would never do anything that would hurt my husband.”

“I understand that you are already married and that you love him, I’m not questioning that, but I also understand that you are married to your soulmate who happens to be a warlock. Your soulmate bond with Magnus has given you eternity with him. This marriage, it would be an alliance between your family and mine. It would be in name only.”

“A political marriage?” he scoffed as he asked, “And would that alliance require you to wear my collar?”

“Well, yes, I would expect a collar, but as I said this would be an alliance only, not a real marriage.”

“You think I would do that to Magnus, give another submissive a collar.” he glared at her.

“But I’m not a…”

“And what about children?” he growled as he talked over her, “Have you thought about that. Do you want children, a family?”

“I admit I haven’t thought about…”

“I have. Magnus and I want a family,” he interrupted her again, “I want a family and I only want one with Magnus.” he took a deep breath to calm down before he looked at her and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what my parents promised you or your family but there will be no wedding.”

“Alec, I…”

“If we are finished.” he held up a hand to stop her talking and began to make his way to the door.

“Alec, could we please talk about this?” she said as she followed him.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” he said as he opened the door. He paused as he came face to face with Raj. He glared and turned to Emmett and said, “I want to be in the room while Magnus is being questioned.”

“Alec you know you can’t do that.” Emmett told him.

“No, as long as he’s in the room,” he said as he shot a glare at Raj as he finished, “So will I be.”

“Alec, he’ll be fine.” Emmett tried to reassure him as he added, “He won’t be in the room alone with him. Lydia and I will be with him.”

“And so will I.” Alec insisted again.

“Alec we need to speck to Magnus alone. We want an unbiased opinion of Clary.” Lydia said.

“I would never try and influence him,” he shot back at her.

“We know that,” Emmett held up a hand to placate him, “And we never thought you would try to, but Alec you know we need to speak to everyone alone.”

“I can’t. I almost lost him. I need…I can’t have him in that room with him, I can’t.”

“I promise he will be safe with me.” Emmett insisted.

“Is everything okay?”

The small group jumped and turned to find Magnus and Cleo walking up behind them. Magnus frowned as Alec moved to stand in front of him, his eyes never leaving Raj. Magnus gave a small laugh as he placed a hand on Alec back, no matter how powerful his mate new he was, when it came to Raj and his parents he would always do everything he could to protect him. With a roll of his eyes he again asked, “Is everything okay?”

“We were just explaining to Alec here that we need to question you alone.” Emmett smiled at him.

“And I was just telling you why that is not happening,”

Magnus watched as they as they continued to argue for a few more seconds before he cleared his throat to gain their attention and suggested, “Maybe we could come up with a compromise?”

“Compromise?”

“Yes, have Raj removed from the room.”

“That is not possible,” Lydia insisted, “Raj is my aide. I need him.”

“I’m sure a competent member of the Clave is more than capable of taking their own notes for one session.”

“Of course,” Lydia reluctantly agreed.

“Alec, are you happy with Magnus suggestion.” Emmett asked.

“Yes, I can work with that.”

“Great,” Emmett smiled as he turned to Raj, “Then, Raj I believe you have some free time for now,” he waited until the submissive nodded, “You will follow the conditions placed upon you to allow you to come here.”

“Yes, sir.” he nodded.

“And those conditions are?” Emmett asked more to appease the still tense Alec.

“The most important condition is to stay away from Alec Lightwood-Bane and his mate Magnus Lightwood-Bane, unless the situation requires me to be in their presence, such as now.” he answered, his eyes never straying from the vampire,voice was emotionless. Magnus would have felt sorry for the submissive, if he hadn’t been the one that he had tried to kill. “The second is to have no contact with Maryse or Robert Lightwood, and third to conduct myself with respect and behaviour becoming of a Shadowhunter.”

“Good,” Emmett nodded, h briefly looked to Alec and smiled to see he had relaxed slightly, before he looked back to Raj and added, “Stay out of trouble.”

He flinched a little as he nodded at Emmett. He turned to Lydia and asked, “Will you be needing me after the interview?”

“No,” she sighed tiredly, “After we question Magnus we will retire for the night, get some rest before we pick up again tomorrow morning with Isabelle.”

“Then I will retire to my room for the night.”

“Cleo could you show Raj to his room?” Emmett asked the young Shadowhunter, stood beside Magnus.

“Of course,” she nodded to Emmett and quietly led Raj down the corridor.

“We’ll give you a few minutes,” Emmett said to Magnus as he ushered Lydia back into the office.

Magnus waited until the door shut to run his hand up Alec’s back to his shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze he asked, “Are you okay?”

“Tired,” he sighed as he leaned back into his mates arms, sighing in contentment as his arms wrapped around his waist and he propped his chin on his shoulder. They stood like that, enjoying the peace and quiet, before he turned in his arms. He pressed a kiss to his forehead, he pulled back to look at him as he asked, “Have you eaten?”

“Yes,” he answered as he nuzzled into his neck, resting his check on his shoulder, “I finished the sandwiches that you and Max made.”

“Good,” Alec said as he pulled back and ordered, “I’ll see you back in our rooms as soon as your done here.”

“Yes, Sir.” he nodded as he leaned in and brushed a kiss across his dom lips.

Alec sighed as he leaned his head against Magnus before he forced his self to take a step back and gave him a gentle push towards the office, “Go before I drag you back to our rooms and lock us away for the rest of our lives.”

“I wouldn’t say no,” he teased.

“Don’t tempt me.” he growled with another small push, “Go.”

“Yes, sir.” he laughed as he stepped in to the office.

Alec waited until the door closed before he let out another tired sigh and turned back to the kitchen. He found Izzy alone cleaning up what was left form their dinner.

“Where’s Max?”

“He went back to his room,” she said as she rinsed out the plates and glasses, “Said something about a new book he wanted to start before going to bed.”

“Okay, I’ve got a couple of reports I need to read myself before I go to bed,” he said, as he was about to leave he paused and asked, “Do…do you need any help?”

“It’s okay,” she shook her head as she turned to face him. She licked her lips, nervous, as she asked, “Can we… I wanted to say I was sorry…for…for everything…”

“Izzy,” he sighed, the pain and hurt clear in his voice and eyes as he finished, “I know your sorry but …but I …I’m afraid just saying sorry isn’t enough this time.”

“Why? Why are you so mad?” She snapped at him. She wasn’t angry at him, more confused than anything. For as long as she could remember Alec had always protected her and Jace when ever they had snuck out or broken the rules, so she didn’t understand why he was so angry this time, “This isn’t any different than what Jace and I have done before?”

“Your right. You and Jace are still the immature and irresponsible people that you have always been, and I’m still the one that has to clean up all the messes you two make. Only this time your irresponsible behaviour not only almost got Magnus killed,” he growled as he ignored her flinch as he held up his hand and counted off on his fingers, “But you also got a mundane kidnapped, twice, ruined a Council lead investigation, attacked a vampire residence, ruined any chance of us arresting Camille now she’s on the run, and that was all in two god damn days,” he stopped to take a deep breath and ran a hand over the back of his neck as he looked her. She gasped as she saw the look pain in his eyes as he said, “And maybe, just maybe, did it ever occur to you that I am tired of the two of you continuously disrespecting me and my leadership.”

“We don’t…”

“You might not believe that is what you are doing,” he interrupted her as he shot her a tired strained smile, “but it is. Every time you disobey my orders, every time you sneak out on your unsanctioned missions, you undermine my authority. You show everyone in this Institute that you don’t respect me or my leadership.”

“Alec…”

“I’ll be in my office if any one’s looking for me,” he quickly talked over her, ignoring the look of pain that flashed over her face. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to her about this it was just that he was too tired to get into an argument tonight.

He quickly walked out of the kitchen and and made his way to his office. He sat at his esk, pulling his tablet forward and started on the waiting reports. He was on his final few reports when he was fighting to keep his eyes open, with a yawn he shut don his computer and packed up his up his tablet and left his office. he headed to the residential area to his room pausing at the door and watched as Magnus and Max curled up on the bed reading.


	17. Chapter 17

“Good, go,” Alec gave him a gently nudge as he ordered, “And don’t be long, I know you haven’t eaten anything since we had breakfast.”

“I will,” he promised before he turned and began to make his way the Infirmary.

He smiled as he heard Luke arguing with one of the healers.

“Now, Luke, you wouldn't be upsetting our lovely healers, now would you?” he smirked at the other man as he stepped into the infirmary.

“Finally,” Luke growled as he looked up at him, “Can you tell this idiot that I’m fine and that I’m good to go.”

“Well, who’s a testy patient,” he laughed as Luke growled at him. He turned to the healer and smiled, “I’ll take over from here.”

She gave a short nod and with a relieved smile she quickly turned to walk back to the office. He turned back to Luke and clicked his fingers and checked him over. Once he was finished he smiled at him and said, “You’re right, you are completely healed and good to go home now.”

“Great!” Luke jumped out of his bed. He frowned as he looked around before he looked to Magnus, who smirked at him and with a snap of his fingers some jeans and t-shirt appeared on the bed. Luke smiled at him as he picked up the clothes, “Thanks.”

“It’s fine,” Magnus waved it away as he nodded to the bathrooms where he could get cleaned up and dressed. As Luke made his way to the bathroom Magnus waved his hand and cleared up the bed and bedside table.

“Where’s Clary?” Luke asked as he came out of the bathroom.

“I believe she is being questioned by the Representatives,” Magnus told him, “I told her that you would have been completely healed and be back with your pack.”

“I thought I could stick around and help with the search for Jocelyn…”

“Luke,” Magnus interrupted him, “You are an alpha, a new alpha to a pack that is in disarray because it has just lost its previous alpha. I know that you only challenged the alpha because he was attacking Clary, and believe me I am thankful because you helped Alexander. But you did challenge him and you won. You have responsibilities to that pack that you can’t just ignore.”

“But Jocelyn…”

“Has the Clave and the Council looking for her...”

“Valentine,” Luke barked, “They’re looking for Valentine, not Jocelyn.”

“Who is being held by Valentine.” Magnus told him, hand held up as he tried to calm him down, “So in looking for Valentine we are also looking for Jocelyn. I know you love Jocelyn and you want to find her, but as I said your responsibilities are to your pack, that is your priority for now.”

“I want to help find Jocelyn.” Luke insisted, “The pack will be fine…”

“Fine,” Magnus gave a huff of disbelief, getting a little anger at the other man as he said, “Sometimes I forget that you’ve only been a Downworlder for twenty years, that you were a Shadowhunter for over twenty years before that, so I can understand why you are finding this so hard to understand, but I will explain it to you in a way that you will understand. As a Shadowhunter, a former Circle member,” he ignored the small flinch the other as he continued, “Just because you became an alpha doesn’t mean that you have become their alpha or that the pack is fine. The pack, right now is not fine, it is a disorganized mess, they have gone hours with out any word from an alpha, give them a couple of more hours and they will start fighting amongst themselves to declare themselves the next alpha.

“Which will mean that they will start to lose their control, which means that Alexander will soon have to send out his Shadowhunters to hunt down and kill any wolves that have lost their control.” He took a deep breath to try and rein in his anger, “You know tension between werewolves and vampires are already bad, now with Valentine running around they are getting worst, not just between them but between all Downworlders and Shadowhunters. All that hard work we did to make things better, to bring peace between our people in the last twenty years, it’s all going to go down the drain and all because you…you can’t get over Jocelyn for five minutes to go and find your pack and prove to them that you are their alpha…”

“Magnus!” Luke shouted to get his attention, “I know. You’re right. You’re right. It’s just…it’s just that its Jocelyn…”

“I understand, I do,” Magnus said. He gave a little scoff as he added, “Don’t think I don’t know how big of a hypocrite I am right now. If it was Alexander I would be the one leading the search party, but warlocks, we don’t need each other in the same way that werewolves or even vampires do. I’m not saying you can’t help find Jocelyn, just that right now your priority has to be with your pack.”

“I know,” Luke agreed with a resigned sigh. He ran his hand over his head as he asked, “You’ll tell me as soon as you hear anything.”

“I will,” he promised before adding with a small smile, “Beside I think Clary will make sure you’re involved.”

“Yeah, I’m sure she will.” he agreed with his own smile.

“Speaking of Clary. She said she left her mothers box with you?” at his questioning look he explained, “I told her that I’d take a look at it and see if I could use it to try and track Jocelyn or Valentine.”

“Right, do you think it will work?” he asked as he reached down under the bed and pulled the box out from under it and handed it over to Magnus.

“I’m not sure,” he shrugged as he accepted the box, “I tried to track them earlier, but I couldn’t find either of them. She was shielded and I couldn’t tell if it was Valentine shielding them or if it was the potion Ragnor gave her to drink, it could be a mixture of both.” he paused as he asked, “I don’t suppose Ragnor gave you a way of contacting him in case anything like this happened?”

“No, sorry.” Luke answered with a shake of his head.

“Of course he didn’t,” he muttered, annoyed. “It’s okay, I have a few ideas of where he might be hiding. I’m sure I’ll track him down eventually.”

“I’m sure,” Luke agreed before reluctantly adding “I should go.”

“I’ll open a portal for you to the Jade Wolf.” Magnus offered, already waving his hands to create said portal.

“Thank you.” he nodded as he stepped through the portal.

He quickly closed the portal and proceeded to his office. He walked over to his desk and placed the box on his desk. He knew Alec had made him promise to return to the kitchen as soon as he had finished with Luke but he wanted to try and and see if he could get anything from the box. He let out a breath and hoped that Alec wouldn’t be too mad that he ignored his order and sat down in his seat.

He pulled the box closer and gently opened the box and gently removed the small cream booties, a lock of blond hair and a silver rattle and placed them in a row along the desk beside the box. He studied each item before picking them up and concentrated on Jocelyn and Valentine. He gasped as he felt the grief and fear coming from the objects. He was disappointed when he couldn’t get past those emotions to locate Jocelyn’s whereabouts. Dejected he carefully placed everything back in the box and closed it, before picking it up and locking it away in his office safe.

He stretched as he gave a grimace at the sound of his stomach rumbling. He quickly made his way out of is office and back to the residential area to the kitchens. He found Izzy and Max sitting at the table, a half empty plate of sandwiches between them.

“Hey, kiddo,” he smiled at the young boy as he ran his hand over his head and sat down beside him.

“Hi, Magnus,” he smiled back at him and pushed a plate at him, “Alec and I made sandwiches, we saved you some.”

“Thanks,” he laughed, as he pulled the plate closer and snapped his fingers for a cup of coffee as he asked, “Where is Alexander?”

“He’s in with the Representatives,” Izzy said, picking at a sandwich on her plate.

Magnus nodded as he finished his own sandwich and asked, “Have you been into see them yet?”

“No,” she said with a shake of her head, “Jace and Clary have both been in. Alec hasn’t been in too long.”

“And where are Jace and Clary?”

“Lydia and Emmett had Clary escorted to her bedroom, told to stay there until morning. I think Jace probably went to see her after he was finished being questioned.”

“Maybe she’ll actually listen and stay put for once,” he muttered.

Izzy flinched and ducked her head, covering her face with her hair.

“Izzy,” Magnus began but he was cut of by Cleo calling his name. He smiled as he turned to her and asked, “Hey, Cleo what can I do for you.”

“The Representatives have asked me to escort you to their office.”

“Okay,” he stood up and followed the young Shadowhunter out of the kitchen and back to the offices.

He frowned as they found the small group stood outside the office arguing.

“I promise he will be safe with me.” Emmett insisted.

“Is everything okay?”

The small group jumped and turned to find Magnus and Cleo walking up behind them. Magnus frowned as Alec moved to stand in front of him, his eyes never leaving Raj. Magnus gave a small laugh as he placed a hand on Alec back, no matter how powerful his mate new he was, when it came to Raj and his parents he would always do everything he could to protect him. With a roll of his eyes he again asked, “Is everything okay?”

“We were just explaining to Alec,that we need to question you alone.” Emmett smiled at him.

“And I was just explaining how that was not going to happen,”

Magnus watched as they as they continued to argue for a few more seconds before he cleared his throat to gain their attention and suggested, “Maybe we could come up with a compromise?”

“Compromise?”

“Yes, have Raj removed from the room.”

“That is not possible,” Lydia insisted, “Raj is my aide. I need him.”

“I’m sure a competent member of the Clave is more than capable of taking your own notes for one session.”

“Of course,” Lydia reluctantly agreed.

“Alec, are you happy with Magnus suggestion.” Emmett asked.

“Yes, I can work with that.”

“Great,” Emmett smiled as he turned to Raj, “Then, Raj I believe you have some free time for now,” he waited until the submissive nodded, “You will follow the conditions placed upon you to allow you to come here.”

“Yes, sir.” he nodded.

“And those conditions are?” Emmett asked more to appease the still tense Alec.

“The most important condition is to stay away from Alec Lightwood-Bane and his mate Magnus Lightwood-Bane, unless the situation requires me to be in their presence, such as now.” he answered, his eyes never straying from the vampire,voice was emotionless. Magnus would have felt sorry for the submissive, if he wasn’t the one that he had tried to kill. “The second is to have no contact with Maryse or Robert Lightwood, and third to conduct myself with respect and behaviour becoming of a Shadowhunter.”

“Good,” Emmett nodded, h briefly looked to Alec and smiled to see he had relaxed slightly, before he looked back to Raj and added, “Stay out of trouble.”

He flinched a little as he nodded at Emmett. He turned to Lydia and asked, “Will you be needing me after the interview?”

“No,” she sighed tiredly, “After we question Magnus we will retire for the night, get some rest before we pick up again tomorrow morning with Isabel.”

“Then I will retire to my room for the night.”

“Cleo could you show Raj to his room?” Emmett asked the young Shadowhunter, stood beside Magnus.

“Of course,” she nodded to Emmett and quietly led Raj down the corridor.

“We’ll give you a few minutes,” Emmett said to Magnus as he ushered Lydia back into the office.

Magnus waited until the door shut to run his hand up Alec back to his shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze he asked, “Are you okay?”

“Tired,” he sighed as he leaned back into his mates arms, sighing in contentment as his arms wrapped around his waist and he propped his chin on his shoulder. They stood like that, enjoying the peace and quiet, before he turned in his arms. He pressed a kiss to his forehead, he pulled back to look at him as he asked, “Have you eaten?”

“Yes,” he answered as he nuzzled into his neck, resting his check on his shoulder, “I finished the sandwiches that you and Max made.”

“Good,” Alec said as he pulled back and ordered, “I’ll see you back in our rooms as soon as your done here.”

“Yes, Sir.” he nodded as he leaned in and brushed a kiss across his dom lips.

Alec sighed as he leaned his head against Magnus be ore he forced his self to take a step back and gave him a gentle push towards the office, “Go before I drag you back yo our rooms and lock us away for the rest of our lives.”

“I wouldn’t say no,” he teased.

“Don’t tempt me.” he growled with another small push, “Go.”

“Yes, sir.” he laughed as he stepped in to the office.

“Mr Bane,” Lydia greeted with a smile, holding out her hand.

“High Warlock Lightwood-Bane,” he corrected as he shock her hand, “But you can call me Magnus.”

“Magnus,” she nodded and with a wave of her hand at the seat she said, “Please sit down and please call me Lydia. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Henry Branwell was one of my ancestors. Your friendship was often spoken with great fondness in my family.”

“Henry,” he smiled fondly, “We worked together on the portal. He was a very dear friend and is greatly missed.”

“He is very much missed,” Emmett agreed, fondness clear in his voice as he remembered the eccentric Shadowhunter. He cleared his throat he sat up and brought their attention back to the matter at hand, “As you know, we are here to question you on the events that has happened over the last three days, but we also have a few questions we would like to ask regarding your involvement with Jocelyn and Clarissa Fairchild.”

“Ask away.”

“Why did you help Jocelyn hide from the Clave?” Lydia asked.

“I explained that in my my report to the Council.” he frowned.

“Yes, we read the report, but I am asking again on behalf of the Clave,” Lydia explained.

“Very well,” he shrugged as he went on to explain, “It wasn’t so much as we were hiding her from the Clave than her fear of what her husband would do to her if he found her.”

“But everyone believed that Valentine was dead.” Lydia said

“Jocelyn didn’t.” he stated, “She was very emphatic in her belief that Valentine was very much still alive and that she was very much afraid of him.”

“Why didn’t she go to the Clave and ask for sanctuary…”

“I went to the Clave when Jocelyn turned up on my doorstep. They told my that Valentine was very much dead, they showed me the bodies from the fire.” he frowned as he turned to Emmett and said, “You know what a mess everything was back then. The Clave had their hands full with the changes that were happening. The Clave was recovering from the Uprising as well as dealing with the looming threat of war with the Downworlders, beside I think it was easier form that to accept that Valentine was dead than having him being alive and adding more complications to their already full hands.”

“Why didn’t she go to the Clave or the Council once it had been formed?” Emmett asked.

“By that time Clary had been born. Once the Clave and Council had been formed and the new Accords had been signed and things started to become stable, Clary would have been four, maybe five years old, I think it was easier for Jocelyn to keep living the life that she had settled into.”

“Were you aware that Jocelyn had the Mortal Cup when she asked for your help?” Lydia asked.

“No,” he shook his head, with a wave at Emmett he added, “As you know, Downworlders never learnt that Valentine had stolen the Cup until after the Shadow Council had been formed. That was a year after the Uprising. I admit I was remiss in not making the connection between Jocelyn and the Cup, but in my defence I was a little busy in trying to stop another war and forming the Council.

“After I had Jocelyn settled in her knew life I left another warlock, Dorothea, to look over them, while I worked on cleaning up the Clave mess. I never heard anything from them until Clary was six and she had her first sight.”

“Which is when you came up the spell that took the girls memories.” Emmett asked.

“Yes,” he nodded as he went onto explain coming up with the spell and how he had to renew the spell every two years for the next fourteen years.

“And you didn’t retain any of the memories?”

“No,” he sighed as he sat back in his seat and resting his clasped hands on his crossed knees, “I thought, if Jocelyn was right about Valentine being alive, the best course of action would be for me to have the memories I took from Clary removed.”

“By feeding them to the same demon that you killed two nights ago?”

“Well, yes, we were trying to retrieve Clary’s memories, but unfortunately my loft was attacked by Circle members,” he shrugged as he added, “We had no choice but to kill it.”

“Do you know how they broke past your wards and into your loft?” Lydia inquired.

“I can’t say for certain, but it is common knowledge that the Circle members had been hunting warlocks, its also very well known that I work out of my loft.” he shrugged as he finished, “It’s not hard to figure out how they might have broken my wards and got into my loft.”

“We have just questioned Alec about the incident with the vampires resident Hotel Dumort,” Lydia said, “But we would like your account?”

“I wasn’t there, so there is nothing I can tell.”

“That’s right, you were injured in the previous vampire attack at the City of Bones, correct?” Lydia asked.

“That’s correct,” Magnus nodded as he then went on to explain what has happened after he and Alec had arrived at the City, “When I had woken up Alec had left to go after them. I at first thought that they had gone to arrest Camille and rescue the mundane, Simon. It was only later when I got the call from Alec that I learnt the truth and about the werewolves.”

He watched as they two whispered to each other before Lydia turned to him and asked, “Do you think Clary knows where the Cup is?”

“No.”

“Do you trust Clarissa Fairchild?” Emmett asked, “Do you believe that she is telling the truth about the Cup. That she is not working for Valentine?”

“Yes, I believe that she is telling the truth about all of it,”

“How can you be so sure?” Emmett asked.

“Because I have seen every memory that girl has had since she was six years old,” He told them, “And not once have I seen anything related to Valentine.”

“But you feed those memories to a demon, so how sure can you be?” Lydia asked.

“Because believe me, we would not be sitting here having this conversation if I saw anything that was related to Valentine.” he told her.

“What about the last two years?” Emmett asked as took over the questioning, “You said Jocelyn never turned up for her appointment. Who’s to say that she hasn’t been working with Valentine the last two years.”

“I can’t, but in the case of Clary, wouldn’t the Silent Brothers have seen something when she was under the Sword?”

“Yes, your right, they would have and they found nothing.” Lydia said.

“Is this why you insisted on questioning us separately?”

“Yes, we wanted to get an unbiased opinion from the both of you on Clary.” Emmett explained.

“My opinion of Clary,” he gave a little scoff before he answered more seriously, “My opinion of Clarissa Fairchild is that she is dangerous.”

“Dangerous?” Lydia asked surprised.

“She’s lost and scared. She’s a little girl, that has been thrown into a strange world that she knows nothing about. She has lost her mother and has proved that she will do anything she has to, including breaking our laws and not caring about the outcome of her actions, to get her mother back.”

“Well, when you explain it like that I can understand why you call her dangerous,” Emmett said before asking, “What would you recommend?”

“Training,” he shrugged as he answered, “I don’t thinks there is much else we could do at the moment. Train her and supervise her because I think we will need her in the search of her father and mother.”

“Why are you so certain she will be needed?” Lydia asked.

“With her mother I have a feeling that she will fight tooth and nail to be part of the search for her. When it comes to her father,” he paused as he thought about what to say before deciding it would be best to be honest, “Jocelyn was almost…militaristic in her attempts to keep Valentine from finding her and Clary. She never admitted it but I’m almost positive she was more afraid of Valentine getting his hands on Clary than herself.”

“Why would think that?” Lydia asked

“All the protections she had put into place were for Clary first. Her safety was always paramount.”

“Well, we will take everything you say into consideration and as we told Alec, we’ll pick up the interviews tomorrow morning with Isabelle.” Lydia said as she turned to Emmett and asked, “Do you have any further questions?”

“No, I think we’re done for tonight.” Emmett agreed as he began to clear up his side of the desk, “Is it possible for you to call Luke Garroway and arrange for him to come in tomorrow?”

“I can call him,” he nodded before adding, “But he has become a new alpha, so he might not be able to make it in.”

“That’s fine. We can go to the Jade Wolf to meet him if it’s easier.” Emmett said as stood up. “Or, we are here for a few days for this investigation, so he can come in later.”

“Then I’ll let him know,” Magnus as he followed, “If that’s all I would like to retire tonight?”

“Actually, if you wouldn’t mind staying behind for a few minutes. I have a personal matter to discuss with you.” Lydia said as she finished gathering her tablet and files.

“How personal?” he asked as she stood to face him.

“It’s just something I’d like to talk to you about in private.” she smiled at him, trying to reassure him.

“Is this the same personal matter that you spoke to Alec privately about?” Emmett asked.

“Yes,” she said as she shifted a little uncomfortable as Magnus frowned at her.

“Then I believe that he should be here for this discussion.” Magnus told her.

“It’s really not necessary,” she insisted her smile becoming strained, “It’s not that important that you have to disturb him from whatever he’s doing.”

“I think that whatever you wish to discuss is important enough to have my dominant present.” Magnus stated with a frown as he could see she was clearly becoming a little agitated.

“It’s fine, as I said it wasn’t that important,” she gritted through her smile as she picked up her belonging, “If we have finished I think I too will turn in for the night.”

She didn’t wait for any response and walked around the desk and out the door.

Magnus waited until the door closed before he turned to Emmett and asked, “Do I have anything to be worried about?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged as he sent him a small apologetic smile, “You would have to ask Alec, I wasn’t there for their conversation.”

Magnus let out a small sigh as he smiled tiredly at him as said, “I’m going to bed. I’ll give Luke a call tomorrow morning.”

With a with a quiet goodnight he turned and walked out of the office and headed to his rooms. He paused outside his door as he remembered his promise to Max and made his way to the boys room and quietly opened the door. He frowned, concerned as he found his bed empty and quickly made his way back to his room. He let out a relieved sigh as he found him curled up in his bed fast asleep clutching a book. He laughed quietly as he made his way to the bathroom and after a quick shower changed in a pair of Alec’s old sweats and t-shirt.

Exiting the bathroom he smiled as he saw Max’s was awake and sitting up in bed, rubbing his eyes as he smiled tiredly at him.

“Hey, sweetie, what are you doing here?” he smiled back at him.

“I wanted you to read me a story, and I know you said you would if you had time, so I thought I would wait here for you, but I feel asleep,” he said with a light blush.

“Did you bring the book?” he asked as he crawled in to bed beside him.

Max face light up in a bright smile as he held up his Harry Potter book as he settled, curled up into Magnus side.

“Are we still at the same place or have you read on?” he asked as he took the book from him and settled back comfortable against the cushions. He laughed at the look Max shot him, “Of course not, sorry, silly question.

The Harry Potter books were something that was just for the two of them, not even Alec was allowed to join them for their reading sessions and neither read the books alone, even if it meant going months without seeing each other. He and Max had a special bond. The young boy had been very quiet and shy five year old when they had meet, who wouldn’t stray far from his parents or siblings. He had been an obvious submissive to Magnus, and he had been straining under Maryse strict and almost obsessive need to have the perfect family of dominates to raise the Lightwood family name in the Clave standing. He had instantly fallen in love with the mischievous five year old and much to the displeasure of Maryse he had done everything he could to encourage the boy to embrace is submissive nature and show him that he could still be a great Shadowhunter like his family, especially Alec who he idolised.

“Hey, I think he’s asleep.”

He looked up to find Alec leaning against the door jam smiling softly at them. He looked down to find that Max had fallen asleep.

Alec chuckled as he pushed away from the door and closed it behind him as he crossed to their desk. He set down the tablet before he turned and made his way to the bed an sat down beside Magnus.

He took the book out of his hands as he asked, “Aren’t you two tired of reading these?”

“You can never get tired of reading Harry Potter.” he defended.

“Of course, sorry,” he smiled, he knew it wasn’t the books that was important to the two but their relationship and the quality time that they spent together.

He pressed a kiss to Magnus forehead before he put the book on the bedside table and stood up and said, “I’m gonna take a quick shower before coming to bed. You need to get some sleep.”

“Okay,” Magnus nodded as he smothered a yawn behind his hand.

Alec helped him settle Max into a more comfortable position before he placed a final kiss to both their heads and headed into the bathroom as Magnus settled down and followed Max to sleep. Alec quickly showered and dressed in his night clothes before he settled down beside Max and was a sleep before his head hit the pillow.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had some trouble writing the first part of this chapter as I've never written anything like it before and had a friend to help. So, I hope it is okay and you like it.

Magnus hummed as he sleepily snuggled into the warm body that was wrapped around him, pulling the covers tighter around him as he fought to stay asleep. Alec laughed as he pulled Magnus in tighter. He ran his hands through his hair and gripped it, tipping his mates head back and kissed along his jaw until he reached his mouth. He smiled as he felt his mate melt into him.

“Morning.” he murmured as he nuzzled their noses together.

“M’ing,” he mumbled as he buried his head back into Alec’s neck. He frowned as he noticed that Max was missing and asked, “Max?”

“Gone to convince Jace to make him some pancakes for breakfast,” he answered as he tugged gently at his subs hair leaning his head back and bringing his lips up for another kiss. He trailed his fingertips down his sub's neck and back, scratching lightly as he went, before they moved back up, taking Magnus t-shirt with him and pulled it over his head, dumping it beside the bed. He tangled their legs and he turned Magnus onto his back. He brought his hands back down his husbands arms, until he reached his hands and entwined their fingers together and raised them up to the headboard. 

“Keep them there,” he told him as he wrapped his fingers around the frame.

Magnus nodded as he tipped his head back, freeing more space for Alec to kiss down his neck. He sighed as he felt Alec lightly bite along his collar to his mark, before finishing with a sharp bite over their mark. Alec ran his fingernails down his Magnus' chest, round to his hip. He gripped the waistband of the sweat pants and pulled them down and off tossing them onto the floor. He took off his own t-shirt and sweats, throwing them too, before he stretched out over Magnus, gripped his knee and tugged up, so he was cradled more securely between his legs.

He pushed up on his arms and looked down at his sub and smiled at the peaceful look that was on his face and the complete trust his sub had given up to him. He dropped a kiss on his lips before he reached over to the bedside table, opened the drawer and pulled out a strip of silk. He wrapped it around his hand and ran it up along his subs arm till he reached the hands gripping the frame and used the silk to secure his husband to the bed. He went back to the drawer and pulled out a black blindfold.

“Lift your head a little,” he gently ordered, and quickly fixed the blindfold over his eyes. Once it was in place he asked, “Okay?”

“Yes, sir,” he murmured.

“Good,” he kissed his jaw.

He sat back on his knees and stared down at his submissive. Magnus is a pure hedonist, a lover of all things sensual, beautiful, a pleasure seeker, and he was his. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips before he sat back and reached into the drawer, pulling out a bottle of massage lotion. He poured some onto his hand, dropping the bottle onto the bed before rubbing his hands together to warm up the lotion. He began to gently massage his subs arms, from his tied wrist down to shoulders, down to his neck and shoulders. He smiled as his sub hummed happily as he slowly moved down his body to his feet. When he was finished he helped Magnus turn onto his stomach and began to massage his back, paying special attention to the tension in his shoulders.

When his sub was relaxed he wiped his hands on the bed sheet as he asked, “What colour are you at baby?”

“Green,” he breathed.

Alec smiled as he watched his sub snuggle into the bed, he knew that the silken sheets would feel cool and soothing on his sensitive skin. He ran his hands up his subs back and leaned over to place kisses across his shoulders.

“That’s good, baby,” he said as he placed a kiss to his right shoulder, where his mark would be at the front. He sat back and ran his nails down his subs sides, smiling as he shivered in pleasure.

He gently nudged Magnus onto his back, making sure the bindings at his wrist were still comfortable. Once he was sure that Magnus was okay, he reached out under the bed and pulled out their box of supplies and picked up a long velvet pouch. He opened the pouch and took out a large and fluffy feather. He sits on top of Magnus hips putting his weight on him. He runs the top of the feather over Magnus' fingers causing him to elicit a small huff of laughter at the tickling sensation.

"You won't be laughing in a minute." Alec promised, smiling at his love.

Alec continues to gently run the soft feather down the arms stretched in front of him making sure to trail the soft skin of Magnus underarm causing him to squirm.

"Try your best to stay still." Alec commands as he brings more of his weight down on the hips below him trying to keep his lovers body steady.

"Yes sir"

He softly bring the feather down over his face and neck, trailing it down his chest until he reaches his stomach. 

Alec then turns the feather around bringing the tip of the feather to the base of Magnus throat and starts lightly scratching down his body till he reaches his naval. He brings the tip back up to his chest and starts drawing in random patterns paying special attention to the ribcage noting the goosebumps that start developing on his skin.

Alec turns the feather around again and then begins trailing the soft side in a swirling pattern down his chest and side until he reaches the sensitive skin at his hipbones delighting at the stomach trembling at the sensation.

"Sir, please."

He dropped the feather on to the bed and ran a soothing hand through his subs hair as he asked, “Colour?”

“Green, please Sir, please.”

“Sshh,” he murmured as he pressed a kiss to his lips and ran a soothing hand down his sides. He got up from is position and reached into the drawer and pulled out the lube, “Open your legs, I’m going to get you ready for me.”

Magnus hummed in pleasure as he felt Alec begin to prepare him. One finger slowly became two and then three. Soon, he was writhing in pleasure and begging for release. He whined in protest as his dom removed his fingers.

“S’kay.” Alec soothed as he stretched out over him, he pressed a kiss to his mouth as he asked, “Colour?” 

“Green, green,” he murmured as he chased Alec’s lips.

Alec leaned in and kissed him as he entered his sub slowly, taking his time pushing in until his hips were flush with Magnus'. He waited as he leaned upon his forearms and asked, “Still green?”

“Yes,” he begged, desperately, “Please, sir please, touch me.” Thrusting his hips up, desperate for Alec's hand to help him find release.

"Uh uh. I want you to come untouched."

Alec leaned down to kiss him silent as he began to move. He grinded his hips, teasing his mate until he was incoherent. He leaned in and kissed him one last time before he ordered, “Come.”

He stilled as he watched his mate come, before he began to move again and found his own release in his husband. 

Alec waited until both their breathing had calmed before he reached out to grab one of their discarded t-shirts and gently wiped them clean.

He cupped his check and ran his thumb along his jaw, “How are you feeling, Magnus.” he smiled as Magnus hummed and nuzzled into his hand, “Okay, I need an actual answer, baby. One to five how deep are you?”

“Not too deep,” he mumbled, shivering as Alec ran a hand through his hair, “About a two, just surfacing really.”

“That’s good, I’m gonna take the blind fold off now,” he gently warned as he placed a kiss on his forehead and lifted his head a little to remove the piece of fabric. He ran his hand through his hair as he waited for Magnus to adjust to the light., “Okay?”

Magnus smiled up at him as he murmured, “I’m good.”

Alec smiled as he reached up and quickly untied the silk scarf from around his wrists. After he massaged the kinks out of each arm he placed a kiss on each of his wrists. As he waited for Magnus to come up from his sub space he cleaned up, putting away their supplies. When he was finished he turned to Magnus, “Do you need anything?”

“Some water would be good,” he said as he licked his dry lips.

He nodded as he kissed his forehead before he stood up and crossed the room to the small refrigerator in the corner and took out a bottle of water. He quickly walked back to Magnus and helped him sit up in the bed and handed him the bottle as he told him, “I’m gonna start the shower for us. I’ll be back in a minute.” 

He brushed a kiss across his lips as he stood up and made his way into the bathroom and set the shower, he made sure that there was fresh towels before he went back into the bedroom.

“Ready?” 

Magnus nodded as he held out a hand for Alec, who took it and help him out of the bed and into the bathroom. Once in the shower they helped each other wash up. Each enjoying the quiet quality time that they had left together knowing that once they stepped out of their bedroom they would be stepping back into a world of chaos.

“You ready?” Alec asked where he was laid out on the freshly made bed, watching as Magnus finished with his make up.

Magnus sighed as he nodded and walked over to the bed and held out a hand for Alec and pulled him up off the bed.

“Are you?” 

“For the mess that today is going to fling at us,” he snorted as he entwined their fingers and began to led him out of the room, “Not even close.”

Magnus laughed as he followed him down the corridor to the kitchens.

“Magnus!” Max laughed when he spotted them, “Look Jace made pancakes.”

“So I see,” he smiled as he walked over to the young boy and dropped a kiss on his head as he sat down next to him and asked, “Did you save me any?”

“Of course,” he rolled his eyes up at him before he turned to his brother and said, “I saved you both some bacon too.”

“Thanks, kiddo.” Alec said as he brushed a hand over his head as he passed him to the counter to collect two cups of coffee. He sat down beside Magnus, placing one of the cups in front of him before he picked up the two plates that Max had pointed out and passed one to Magnus, “Did you thank Jace for making breakfast?”

“Yes,” he nodded as he dived back into his breakfast.

“Yes, thank you, Jace,” Magnus nodded to him as he began to eat his own breakfast.

Jace shrugged before he smirked when he saw Izzy and Clary come into the kitchen, “Anything is better than Izzy’s cooking.”

He yelped as Izzy smacked the back of his head as she walked past him and settled down at the table. Alec frowned as he watched Clary stop at the door with another Shadowhunter. He looked to the other man questioningly.

“Ms Branwell said she could leave her room as long as she had a guard,” he explained.

“She’s not a prisoner,” Jace snapped.

“Jace!” Alec warned as he turned to his brother, “We talked about this. He is just following orders,” he ignored the glare Jace sent him as he turned back to Clary, “Sit down and have some breakfast,” he nodded to the other man and said, “It’s okay, we’ve got it from here.”

He nodded back before he turned and left, leaving the small family in tense silence.

“Max, do you have any homework you need to do?” Magnus asked wanting to break the tension for the young submissive.

“Yeah,” he groaned, “I have to memories a bunch of runes, its boring, I already know all of them.”

“Yeah, you showed how well you know them when you got the nourishment and fire rune mixed up,” Izzy smirked at him.

They laughed as he stuck his tongue out at her breaking the tension as they fell into small talk about Max and his studies.

“Max!” 

They young boy tensed as Maryse walked into the kitchen.

“Mother.” 

“Your father and I have arranged for Hodge to take over your tutoring this morning,” she told him as she stood at the head of the table.

“But…”

“Max, no arguing,” Alec interrupted him. “Besides you’ll love Hodge. He’s a great instructor, he taught Jace, Izzy and me and we’re the best,”

“Yeah, Maxie, don’t you want to be the best like us,” Jace smirked at him.

“Don’t call me Maxie,” he glared at his brother before he turned to Alec and asked, “Do…do you really think I can be good like you guys?”

“Of course,” Alec told him.

“Even though I’m a…” he trailed off uncertain, eyes darting to his mother.

“Hey,” Magnus gently cupped the boys chin and tilted his head to look him in the eye as he said, “I’ve told you before that no matter your dynamic you are going to be one of the best Shadowhunters in history.”

Max beamed at Magnus before it turned in to a small smirk as he asked, “Even Alec?”

Magnus leaned in close as he whispered, “Even better than, Alexander.”

“But that will only happen if you study and practice,” Alec said as he reached over Magnus and ruffled his brothers hair, “So go with mother and work with Hodge.”

“Okay,” he sighed as he stood up and followed his mother out if the kitchen.

“Thank you,” Alec said as he cupped Magnus check and turned him to face him.

“For what?”

“For helping him,” Alec said as he pulled him into a brief kiss before he added, “For helping him to understand that he’s not weak just because he’s a submissive.”

“Of course,” Magnus smile at him, “I love Max, I don’t want something as silly as him being a submissive stop him form being his best.”

“Magnus?” Clary called out, “Did you have a chance to look at my mom’s box?”

“Yes,” he shot her a mild glare for interrupting their private moment, “But unfortunately I couldn't track her with any of it. I wasn’t able to pick up much of anything, I’m afraid.”

“But you did pick up something?” Izzy asked.

“Yes, feeling’s mostly,” he sighed as he pushed away his plate and waved a hand over his coffee cup to refill it. He looked to Alec, silently asking if he wanted his refilled. As Alec shook his head he turned back to Clary and told her, “Fear, sadness, pain but mostly sadness, both from Jocelyn and the boy.”

“You…my br…you felt my brother?” she asked quietly.

“Faintly,” he nodded, “But mostly your mother. Her grief was the strongest, overpowering all the other emotions that I could detect.”

“So,what do we do now? How are we going to find my mother?” 

“I’m trying to find a friend of mine,” Magnus said as he finished his coffee, “A warlock named Ragnor Fell. He helped Dorothea in protecting you and your mother. He created the potion that you said mother drank, if Valentine ever captured her. It was to put her in a comatose state, so that he couldn’t question her. Unfortunately, I think it is also interfering with my ability to track her, that and what ever Valentine is using to hide himself.”

“If he’s a friend then why can’t you find him?” she asked.

“He’s hidden him self away,” he huffed in annoyance, ignoring Izzy and Alec as they smirked at him.

“What? Who?” Jace asked, irritated that he didn’t know who they were talking about.

“You know Ragnor. We meet him at their bonding ceremony. British, tall, green with horns,” Izzy said, at Jace blank look she smirked as he added, “He kept calling you Jason all night.”

He glared at the other two men as they tried to muffle their laughter. He remembered who they were talking about now. The warlock had pissed him off for constantly calling him Jason and talking over him or just not listening to him. After the ceremony he was horrified to find everything in his room had been turned bright pink. To this day he still doesn’t know what he did to upset the other man. 

Magnus cleared his throat as said a little more calmly, “Ragnor is not a very sociable person. He doesn’t like people very much, so every few years he withdraws from the world. He sends a few fire messages now and then to assure us all that he’s still very much alive, but we have no way of contacting him.” he took a deep breath to calm his annoyance of his old friend. He smiled gratefully at his dom as Alec took his hand a gave it a quick squeeze before he turned back to Clary and added, “ I know a few places that he usually goes, but with Valentine hunting warlocks looking for Ragnor, it’s possible that he’s gone somewhere no one can find him.”

“But you can find him right?” she asked hopefully.

“It won’t be easy, but yes I think I can find him.” he assured her.

“I want to help…”

“No,” Alec broke in and quickly talked over her complaint, “If you want to be part of the Shadow World, want to help find your mother then you need to start training like a real Shadowhunter.”

“I am a real Shadowhunter,” she insisted with a glare.

“Your not even half a Shadowhunter,” he mumbled with an eye roll.

“I’ll start her training,” Jace said, talking over what ever Clary was saying to stop any arguments.

“No, you won’t,” he said as he held up a hand to stop any protest from him, “With the Reps here from the Clave and Council we are going to do things by the rules. That means she starts her training with an official Clave appointed instructor. That’s not you, or any of us. I’ll appoint some one to start her training, maybe I’ll ask Hodge to do it after he’s finished with Max.” he ignored his brother again as he turned to Clary and asked, “Where’s the mundane?”

“Simon,” she stressed his name, “went home last night.”

“You need to call him and get him to come back in so that the Reps can question him.” he told her. He turned to Magnus and asked, “Are you calling Luke.”

“Yes,” he nodded, “But I explained that he might not be able to make it in today, because of being a new alpha to the pack…”

“Why do they want to question Simon? He knows nothing about Valentine.” she interrupted them as she demanded.

“No, but he was kidnapped by the Dumort Clan. Which the Council is also investigating this Institute for.” Magnus explained, with a glare at her rudeness.

“Why?” Jace asked.

“You went on a unsanctioned mission that resulted in numerous vampires being killed, of course the Council will investigate.” 

“They broke the Accords when they kidnapped the mundane,” he snapped.

“Yes, they did, but you failed to inform either of the Clave of Council of this fact,” Magnus scowled at him, “Something that both you and Isabelle know you have to do. You both know that it is policy to inform the Council or the Clave if you have a mission that involves Downworlders or their residences, like the hotel. But you didn’t, and what makes it worse is that if you had informed the Council you would have learned that the Council have been investigating the Clan for the last few months and you would have had their full support.”

“And know because of your rash behaviour, Camille is on the run, several possibly innocent vampire have been killed by your hand and what was a highly regarded Institute and it's leaders are now being investigated.” A voice interrupts

The small group sat in stunned silence as they turned to see Emmett stood at the entrance of the kitchen.

“Good morning, Emmett,” Magnus greeted, breaking the tense silence, “What can we do for you?”

“I came to enquire about Simon and Luke,” he said as he turned to Clary and told her, “So, if you could call your friend and have him come to the Institute as soon as he can.” when she continue to sit there he snapped, “That wasn’t a request.”

Clary jumped up from her seat and glared at the vampire as she stormed past him, Jace quickly stood up to follow her.

“Ms Fairchild! Mr Wayland!” he called out, stopping them just outside the kitchen. He waited until they had turned back to him, before he addressed them, voice lacking any emotion and hard cold eyes trained on them, “You may want to start to think about your attitude and behaviour, especially the consequences of those actions. We wouldn’t want them to destroy twenty years of hard earned peace now, would we?”

They shot the vampire a fierce glare before they turned and rushed down the corridor back to the residential area. 

“I’ll go and call Luke,” Magnus said as he turned to Alec and asked, “Meet me for lunch?”

Alec nodded and pressed a kiss to his forehead before Magnus stood. He asked Emmett, “Would you like join me in my office as I call Luke?”

“Yes,” he gave a quick nod he turned to Izzy and said, “Isabelle, I’m not sure if you have been informed, but we’d like for you to come to our office for your interview at 11 am?”

“Yes, Lydia sent someone to tell me.” 

“Okay,” he nodded at her before he turned to Alec and said, “After we’ve questioned Simon and Luke, Lydia and I will need to interview some people here as well as at the Hotel and Jade Wolf, but we should be done soon and we will meet with you and Magnus hopefully tomorrow morning and discuss the outcome.”

“I’ll try to keep my morning free,” he said with a small frown as he knew it meant a morning of paperwork.

“And I’ll rearrange my clients, again.” Magnus huffed as he and Emmett walked out of they kitchen towards his office.


	19. Chapter 19

Alec grumbled under his breath as he made his way through the residential area in search of Clary. He knew it had been too good to be true, for the past two days Clary had actually been doing as she was told. He and Hodge had organised the girls training schedule, including working with other Shadowhunters to complete her education. He had found Clary in the library with Jace and she had seemed excited and eager to start. Hodge had reported back that she was actually taking it seriously, turning up early and participating with her sessions without causing to much trouble. Even Jace had been keeping a low profile.

He was in his office going over last night’s patrol reports when Hodge came to him and told him that the girl hadn’t turned up for her training that morning, so now here he was having to hunt the girl down to find out why she didn’t go.

As he neared his brothers room room he could here the two of them talking.

“He said my name,” Clary said, excited, “He said ‘ _your mother for the cup’_.”

“Who said that?” Alec asked as he stopped at his brothers doorway.

He saw that Jace and Clary were stood in front of his bed, both studying a purple pendent that Jace was holding up.

“Valentine,” both answered.

Clary turned to look to him as she added, “He’s with my mother.”

“And he can speak to you through that thing?” he asked as he stepped further into the room and pointed to the necklace, “Here. In the Institute?”

“I was getting ready to meet Hodge when I started to think about my mother. I touched the pendent and I …I just saw them.”

“And he spoke to you?” Alec asked again, “He actually spoke to you?”

“It’s a portal shard.” Jace said as he held it up to the light to study it again.

“All I know is what I saw,” she told him before she turned to Jace and excitedly told him, “She’s alive, my mother, she’s unconscious but she’s alive.”

“Where are they?” Alec asked.

“I don’t… I don’t know.” she said, her excitement falling.

“You said you saw them,” Alec said as he went on to question her, “Was there any thing that you recognised? Something that could tell you where they are? Characteristics? Photographs? What about weapons?”

“I don’t remember,” she cried, “It was awful.”

“Alec, lighten up,” Jace rolled his eyes at him.

“I’m trying to get something from this.” he told his brother before he turned back to Clary and asked. “Clary, tell me everything that you saw?”

“Valentine has my mother,” she spat at him, “That is what I saw.”

“You need to control your emotions,” Alec told her. He took a deep breath as he tried to control his growing frustration as he tried to get her to focus, “Emotions can cloud your judgement. I need you to concentrate, to think clearly. Anything that you remember can help us find Valentine and your mother.”

“Well, I guess I’m not an emotionless robot like you,” she spat.

“I’m not emotionless,” he laughed at her, with roll of his eyes. “I just don’t let them get in the way of doing my duty. It is my duty to protect this Institute and all the people in it, which includes you. If Valentine can see in through that, then that is a door that I have to close.” he turned to Jace and held out a hand to him as he asked, “Let me see that thing.”

When it looked like he was going to argue he snapped, “Now, Jace!”

Jace hesitated before he reluctantly handed over the necklace to Alec. He held it up and studied it before he looked back at them and said, “I’ll have Magnus take a look at it, see if you are right about it being a portal shard, but for now I’ll put this some where safe.”

He turned and walked out of the bedroom and quickly made his way through the Ops Centre and training area to the archive room.

“Hey!” Clary yelled as she and Jace quickly followed him, “Where are you going?”

“I told you,” he told her as resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her again at having to repeat himself for her, “I’m going to put this somewhere safe where no one will be tempted to use it.”

“Alec, Alec!” Jace said as he jogged to catch up to his brother. He tugged on his arm to stop him and pulled him around to face him, “We should use it. Alec, we should use it to get to Valentine.”

Alec scoffed as he pulled his arm out of his brothers hold and walked round him into the archives and told him, “That’s not going to happen. If I was Valentine, I’d make you think that you could rescue Jocelyn,” he stopped and pulled out his stele as he crouched down at a floor safe. As he ran his stele over the rune and waited for the safe to rise up from the floor he looked up at them and said, “And then I’d lure Clary to me and leverage her life for the Cup.”

“I like Jace’s idea,” Clary said as she watched Alec put the necklace on a shelf in the safe, “We saved Simon from the vampires.”

“Yeah,” he scoffed as he pressed down on the safe to return it to the floor as he looked back up at her he said, “And look how well that has turned out,” he looked back at the safe and ran his stele back over the rune to lock it. He stood up as he added, “And beside Valentine is a threat that we are not prepared for. He can’t be handled by three and a half Shadowhunters.”

“Four,” she glared at him defiant, “I am a _real_ Shadowhunter.”

“Then start acting like one,” he glared back her. “Shadowhunters are soldiers. We train day in and day out. We do not go rushing into situations that we do not have all the information for,” he turned to include his brother in his glare as said, “Rushing in like that gets people hurt, gets people killed,” he ignored his brothers flinch as he turned to Clary and went on, “If you want me to start treating you like a Shadowhunter, respecting you, then you need to start respecting me and acting like a real Shadowhunter. And you can start by going to find Hodge and continuing with your training.”

He pushed past the two and was almost out the door before he paused and turned back to Jace and ordered, “Leave it there,” before he turned back and made his way back to his office.

 

***

 

Magnus sighed as he sent off what he thinks might be his eighth fire message to Ragnor that morning, and he had not answered any of them. No matter how urgent he was in them. He had spent the past two days firing messages off to him and other friends that he could think of that might know where he was.

In a way he did understand Ragnor’s need for solitude. Being immortal wasn’t easy. Losing loved ones, friends and family. Time moved by as you stood still, unchanging. It could weigh heavy on the heart, mind and soul. He had closed himself off for centuries, but he had been one of the lucky ones to have found a supportive group of friends, including Ragnor, and not to mention gaining a soulmate mark five years ago and finding Alexander. But Ragnor himself was a different person. He wasn’t a people person, preferring the company of his book and himself.

With a tired sigh he sat back in his seat as he pulled out his phone and again began to rearrange his clients for the next few days, he then called Luke to see if the pack was now stable enough for him to finally come in and see the Representative. Once he had finished his last call he tossed his phone on his desk and his eyes fell on Clary’s box. He sat up and pulled the box towards him and opened it. He pulled out the lock of hair and placed it in front of him as he closed the box and pushed it back before he focused on the hair.

He studied the hair as he contemplated using it to try and track Jocelyn again, this time trying a spell that would block out the most prominent feeling, Jocelyn’s grief. He stood up and walked over to the book shelf behind his desk and looked for the best spell book to counteract the emotions that he could feel. He jumped as his door slammed open and Clary stormed in, red hair flowing behind her.

“You have to talk to him,” she growled as she slapped her hand onto his desk and glared at him.

“Yes, Clary, please do come in,” he smirked as he turned to face her. As she just continued to glare at him, he rolled his eyes as he let out a little huff of annoyance as he asked, “Talk to who?”

“You know who,” she huffed as she crossed her arms and slumped into the chair in front of his desk as she continued to glare at him and snapped, “Alec!”

“And why would I need to talk to Alexander?” he asked as he selected a book that he thought had a spell he could use.

“He’s trying to stop me from finding my mother.” she said as she watched him flip through the book.

“What?…Why would he…?” he asked as he walked back to his desk and placed the book on the his desk.

“He took my necklace.” she snapped. She quickly rushed on to explain at his blank look, “My mother gave me a necklace on my birthday, the day she disappeared. She told me to always keep it with me and to think of her when I was wearing it.” she sighed as she ran a hand through her hair as she finished, “I was thinking of her as I was touching the pendent and I saw them.”

“Them?”

“Valentine and my mother,” she said as she explained what she saw, before complaining, “Alec overheard us and took the necklace and locked it away.”

Magnus thought over what she told him before he offered thoughtfully, “It might be a portal shard.”

“That’s what Jace said!” she exclaimed excitedly as she pushed up in her seat to sit in the edge , “So, you’ll talk to him. Tell him we can use it to track my mother.”

“I don’t know why you think I can change Alexander's mind.” he frowned a her.

“Well, you’re his submissive,” she blushed as she added, “You could…you could …persuade him to …change his mind.”

Magnus laughed at her causing her to frown at him, “What?”

“You do know that’s not how it works, right?” he asked her, still chuckling as he explained, “Not one dynamic holds all the power in a relationship. It’s equal, a partnership. I can’t make Alexander do anything, beside why would I try and get Alexander to do something that I don’t agree with.”

“What?”

“I believe that Alexander is doing the right thing,” he explained at her perplexed look, “His priority is to protect the Institute and all the people in it.” he held up a hand to forestall what ever she was about to say as he added, “If it is a portal shard and you can see Valentine with it, then it is highly likely that he can see you with it. That is a security risk that Alexander has to shut down.”

“But my mother…I saw her…”

“I know,” he sighed as he sat back in his seat and tried to get her to understand how difficult the situation they were in was, “With the Representatives here Alexander and I have to be careful with how we proceed. We and the Institute are under review. If Alexander is found unfit to lead, he will be replaced as Head of this Institute, by someone from the Clave. Someone who will follow all the rules, completely, which means you wouldn’t even be here in the Institute never mind be a part the search for your mother.” At her blank look he explained, “I mean they will send you to Idris where you can’t get in their way to cause any trouble.”

Clary bit her lip as she sat back in her seat as she tried to think of her next argument. Her eyes widened as they fell on her mothers box, “What are you doing with that?”

“I was trying to see if I could use a spell to try and filter out some of the emotions that are coming off it, see if I can use them or even Jocelyn's emotions to try and track her.” he explained as he tapped the opened spell book.

“Do you think that will work?” she asked as she picked up the box and began to examine it.

“I’m not sure, that is why I said I’m trying, something like this has never been tried before. At least not to my knowledge.” he said as he skimmed over the spell and explained, “I think I can modify a spell that is used for relaxation or maybe for tranquillity to sooth the prominent emotions, and combine it with warlock tracking, I think it might, _might,_ work,” he stressed, before he warned, “but, remember when I said I’ve never done anything like this, so don’t get your hopes up.”

“You are the High Warlock, right, you wouldn’t have gotten that title if you weren’t the best at what you do.”

“That’s true, but flattery won’t get you what you want.” he told her as he went back to studying the spell as Clary went back to the box.

He pushed the book back and stood up and went back to the book shelf and pick out two other books.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’ve thought of another two spells that I could try.” he said as he put the books on the desk and began to research.

“Do…do you think Luke told me everything?” she asked as she put down the box on top of a spell book, ignoring the glare he shot her.

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“He kept insisting that my mother had left me clues to where the Cup was, but I don’t know what they are.” she shrugged as she pointed to the box, “All I remembered was that.”

“What did he tell you about the box?”

“He didn’t want to tell me anything at first,” she said as she stood up and began to pace in front if his desk, “He said he wanted me to remember that my father could be a good man, but I needed to know. If my mother really did leave clues then I needed to know everything.” she said as she stopped in front of the desk and placed her hand lovingly on the box. She bit her lip as she tried to hold back her tears as she said, “He told me that the box belonged to my brother. My brother that my father killed in a fire at our family home.”

She sobbed as her emotions broke free, but both gasped as the box disappeared into the book as a sketched drawing.

“What…how…how did I do that?” she stammered.

“There are some Shadowhunters that have unusual angelic powers, the Brothers and the Iron Sisters, but I have never seen anyone do anything like that.” he said as he stood up and walked around the desk, he picked up the ran his hand over the sketch.

“Wait!” Clary said as she pulled the book from him and looked at the drawing as she excitedly told him, “I think…I think I’ve done this before.”

She quickly explained about the biscotti biscuit when she was at the coffee shop with Simon. She smiled up at him as she said, “I think I know where the Cup is?”

“Where? How?”

“Are these powers inherited?” she asked as she ignored Magnus question as she went back to staring at the drawing.

“I …it could be possible,” Magnus answered as he watched he watched Clary run her fingers over the drawing. He watched as her fingers passed through the page and drew the box out of the page. She laughed delightedly as she held up the box and said, “My mother, she could do this.” she looked up at him and smiled brightly at him as she added, “She had these tarot cards. They were beautiful and hand painted. I think she hid the Cup inside the Ace of Cups,” she laughed a little delighted only for a look of dismay pass over her face and she gasped, “Oh god.”

“What?”

“Dot…she … the last time I saw the cards she had them.” she said, the distress clear in her voice. “She gave me a reading the morning of my birthday. That was the last time I remember seeing them.”

“This is not good. If Valentine gets his hands on the Cup.”

“I know, so we need to go and find Jace…”

“Alexander,” Magnus interrupted her, “Alexander is the Head of the Institute. Any information that we get on Valentine or the Cup should be brought to him first.” he waited to see if any objections. When she remained silent he said, “So, let’s go and find Alexander and fill him in.”

He turned and led Clary out of his office. He paused at Alec door and knocked, when he got no answer they quickly made their way to the Ops Centre. He looked around and spotted Stephanie stood at one of the computers.

“Stephanie,” he greeted as he stepped up beside her, “Do you know where Alexander is?”

“He’s in the training room,” she told him, her eyes darting to Clary and back to Magnus as she answered, “Said he needed to de-stress.”

“Thank you,” he smile at her and began to make his way to the training area. He didn’t know what had upset his husband, not having felt anything through their bond, but by the way Stephanie reacted he had a feeling it had something to do Clary.

They entered the training area and found Alec and Izzy standing and talking quietly.


	20. Chapter 20

Izzy sat at her dressing table, brushing her hair, lost in thought of everything that had happened since they had meet Clary. She hadn’t realised how serious the situation was until she had been questioned by the Representatives and Alec had snapped at her. She and Jace had always broken the rules, safe in the knowledge that Alec would have their backs.

She never really thought how their actions would reflect on his leadership or affect him personally. She had just been concerned with having fun. That was why she thought meeting Clary was exciting. She was new and interesting, she just hadn’t realised that she was going to bring a homicidal father, hell bent on world domination. She had also thought that the growing attraction between Clary and Jace would help settle the bonds between Alec, Magnus and Jace.

She knew that Jace had felt angry, jealous even, of Magnus place in Alec's life. He had been used to being one of the most important people in Alec's life, along with their parabatai bond. Jace tended to forget that Alec had been born with a soulmate bond, even though it had been void when they meet, he still acted as if it wasn’t there. When it had become active and Magnus had came into their lives, he still acted as if he and their bond would come first, and so he had been shocked when they had bonded and their parabatai bond had shifted to accommodate the soulmate bond. Jace had been angry, and resented Magnus for replacing him in Alec’s life.

She had hoped that Clary would help Jace to realise that they could have other people in their lives and still be a close family, but it seemed the opposite was happening and things were falling apart.

She put the brush down and piled her hair up and back, pinning it in place with stick pins. She frowned as she heard her mother and father quietly arguing in the hall outside her room. She stood up and moved closer to the door so she could her them clearer.

“It’s not like Isabelle can do it,” Maryse snapped.

“You’ve always been too hard on her,”

“And you’ve always been too soft,” she snarled as she grabbed his arm to turned him to face her, “It has to be Alec. He is the Head of the Institute, he is respected by the Clave and the _Council_ ,” she sneered, “He will do it, because he knows it will mean protecting this family. This is our only option, so get on board, Robert.”

She didn’t wait for his response as she stormed past him down the corridor. Izzy waited until she was sure she was gone before she stepped into the hall and demanded,

“Get on board what?”

“This is something best discussed in private,” he said as he nodded to her room.

She nodded as she stepped back and allowed him to enter her room. She closed the door behind them and turned back to see him holding out a gift to her. She took it with a tentative look at him as she sat down on the bed, placing the gift beside her.

“What’s going on?” she asked him.

“This used to be my favourite part of coming home,” he said as he smiled and nodded to her and the gift.

“What do you mean?”

“Just to see how your face would light up,” he said, with a sad smile as he nudged the gift at her.

She bit her lip as she tugged it closer to her an picked at the old linen cloth wrapping. She hesitantly pulled it back to reveal another old Idris cookbook.

“It used to be mine too,” she said with a sad little laugh as she remembered all the little gifts he used to bring her when they travelled.

She had always been closest to their father, being something of a daddy’s girl. Of course, that had all changed when he went along with his dom's, their mother's, plan to kill Magnus. They had almost destroyed their family because they couldn’t let go of their prejudiced views.

She pushed the book away as she looked up at him and demanded, “What is it you want?”

He sighed as he looked at and seeing the determined look on her face, he realised that the trip down memory lane was over and it was time for business.

“If the Seelies change sides, we have no hope of defeating Valentine.”

“We’ll think of something.”

“You know the Seelies better than anyone,” he told her as he sat down to face her, “I’m not judging. It’s a fact. It’s an asset, one we could have used to help convince the Clave of what is coming,” he looked at her with disappointment as he added, “But, with all the unsanctioned missions that you and your brother went on, all the times Alec covered for you two when you went rogue and violated the Accords - you damaged the family name and honour. Now the Clave thinks it is beyond repair.”

He stood up and paced a little before he turned and said, “The Lightwood name only has meaning because of all the people who have fought for our cause, we were among the bravest. The best of all the Shadowhunters.”

“And now they think we’re not any more?” she asked as she stood up.

She turned to face him and let him talk, her anger growing with each word he was saying.

“You need to do better. You, Alec and Jace, you all need to work hard to restore the family name and honour,” he told her. He waited to see if she had anything to say, when she remained quiet he added, “Honour comes from the deed. It’s not a simple proposition to fix it. It s going to require a tremendous sacrifice.”

“What kind of sacrifice and who will be making it?” she asked, although she already knew the answer.

“Alec,” he began, unaware of his daughters growing anger, “Your mother and I believe that he is the right choice for this decision. If Alec marries a Shadowhunter from a well respected family it would help our situation.”

“There is so much wrong with what you just said,” she mumbled as she glared at him, “Alec is already married.”

“To a Downworlder,” he said, waving it away as if it meant nothing, “As I said, it will require a great sacrifice. One that Alec will understand and accept. He knows that to protect this family…”

“Stop, just stop!” she shouted, “I can’t believe that you are standing there and trying to put the blame on all of us. We made some mistakes, yes, but we never joined a homicidal maniac wanting to destroy a race of people, just because they were different. I never almost destroyed our family by trying to kill Alec’s soulmate…”

“Iz…”

“You say you want to help restore the family name and honour, the same name that _you and mother_ destroyed, but you seem to have forgotten something very important.” she said as she took a step towards him and hands on hip informed him coldly, “You are no longer a part of this family, Alec disowned you and mother. And if you think that Alec would do that, betray Magnus like that, then you don’t know him as well as you think you do.” She took a deep breath as she gestured to the book on the bed and snapped, “And if you think you can come in here with bribes to try and get me to convince Alec to go along with your plan, you don’t know _me_ as well as you think.”

“That’s not…”

“You stand there and talk about how important family is, but you don’t hesitate to use Alec to your advantage, to use him for your gain.”

“We are…it is… we only want what is best for this family and Alec is well respected by the Clave and …”

“No, you only want what is best for you and mother, and you don’t care who you hurt in the process.” She interrupted him as she looked him in the eye and said, “Alec has always put the safety and honour of this family, which includes Magnus, first and he would never put a Shadowhunter submissive before his husband. He is respected by the Clave and Council because he has worked hard to prove himself to be an honourable man and Shadowhunter. You and mother will just have to find another way to get into the Clave’s good graces.”

She shot him on last glare before she turned and stormed out of her bedroom, looking for her brother.

 

***

 

Alec grunted as he smacked the punching bag with the long staff. He had left Jace and Clary in the Archives and went to his office and tried to go over some reports, but he had been unable to concentrate and headed to the training room to work out his frustration.

“Tell me you won’t do it?” Izzy demanded as she stormed into the room.

“Do what?” he frowned at her as he turned and stared at his sister confused.

“Tell me you won’t go through with it.” she quietly pleaded, “Please promise me, Promise me you will tell them no.”

“Tell who no and go through with what?” he asked as he propped him arm on the staff stick.

“Our parents have arranged for you to get married to some Shadowhunter, but …but you can’t…you can’t…”

“Izzy!” he interrupted as he let the staff fall to the floor and grabbed her shoulders to get her attention and told her, “I know and I have already told mother that it won’t be happening.” Seeing the confused look on her face he went on to explain, “It’s the real reason mother came here. Due to the recent activities of Valentine and the Circle, they believe that the Clave will start to question their loyalty, and they seem to be under the impression that if they make a political alliance with another well respected family they can restore their name and influence within the Clave.”

“But that… that doesn’t make any sense,” she stated confused, “I mean they aren’t technically part of the family any more.”

“No, but they do still hold the Lightwood name.”

“But only because you allowed them to keep it, for Max, everyone knows that you are the Head of the Lightwood family.”

“Exactly, that's the point.” he tried to explain, “They think if they can marry me off to some family who are influential within the Clave and Council for whatever deal or promise that they made and it will protect them from whatever repercussions or fallout from Valentine.”

“But you won’t do it, right?” she insisted.

“Of course not,” he told her as he bent down to pick up his staff, “And I’m a little offended that you would think I would do that to Magnus.”

“I didn’t,” she sighed as she reached up and pulled and remove the pins from her hair and ran a hand through her hair, pulling it over one shoulder as she said, “I didn’t, not really, but I wanted to make sure.”

“Well, now you know,” he smiled at her as he reassured her, before he frowned at her and asked, “How did you find out?”

“Father, he came to my room and asked me to talk to you to try and convince you into marrying this person for them.”

“Unbelievable,” he scoffed before he smirked at her and asked, “And how loud where you when you told him to fuck off.”

“His ears should be still ringing,” She laughed as she watched him walk over to the wall and place the staff back into its place. Her laughter trailed as she bit her lip and rubbed her hands together nervously as she whispered, “Alec,” she cleared her throat as and said louder, “Alec I’m sorry.” she waited until he turned back to face her and quickly added, “I know…I know you said sorry wasn’t…but I …” she took a deep breath to calm her nervous and finished, “Ever since I had my interview with Lydia and Emmett I’ve been thinking and I… I never. I don’t think Jace or I…I never realised how my behaviour would effect you or how it could be viewed by the other Shadowhunters in the Institute or the Clave.”

“That must have been some interview,” he joked, not sure how to deal with what she said.

“It was,” she laughed a little as she let out a deep breath to release some of her tension as she said, “But I am serious. I am sorry, and I want…I want you to know that I…”

“Is everything okay?”

They both jumped and turned to see Magnus and Clary enter the training area.

“Everything is fine,” Alec smiled at him as he took his husbands hand and pulled him close to place a kiss on his temple as he said, “We were just discussing my mother and her plans to marry me off.”

“Ahh,” Magnus hummed.

“We know where the Cup is,” Clary said impatiently, talking over whatever Magnus going to say.

“What? How?” Izzy asked.

“It would appear that the Fairchild women have a special ability,” he said as he turned to Clary and nodded at the spell book she carried as he told her, “It would be easier to show them.”

Clary nodded as she held up the book and opened it to show them the sketch of her box.

“Is that?” Izzy asked frowning at the drawing.

“Yes.”

“How is that possible?” Alec asked.

“Some Nephilim, such as the Brothers and Sisters, have special and unusual powers. It would appear that the Fairchild women are some of those Nephilim.” Magnus answered. He turned to Clary and told he again, “Show them.”

Clary lowered the book and turned it towards her so she could concentrate on the sketch. She gently ran her fingers over the drawing, feeling it warm under her fingers as she felt her fingers push through the page and touch the wooden box and pulled it out of the page. She smiled at him as she passed the box to Izzy.

“How does that lead to the Cup?” Alec asked as he watched his sister examine the box.

“My mother has these tarot card, she hand painted them years ago, and I think the Ace of Cups is actually the Mortal Cup.”

“Where are these cards?” Alec asked.

“And that would be our problem,” Magnus said as he smiled sadly as he added, “The last time she saw them was with Dorothea.”

Alec squeezed Magnus hand in comfort at the sorrow he could feel for his lost friend.

Magnus smiled at him as he answered, “But I don’t think he has them or if he does he doesn’t know.”

“How can you be sure?” Izzy asked.

“If Valentine started creating Shadowhunters or gained control of demons, it’d be like Beyonce riding a dinosaur through time square,” Magnus snorted, “People would notice.”

“So, we might have some time.” Alec said as he let go of Magnus hand as he began to pace as he thought. He turned to Izzy and told her, “Okay, call Jace and fill him in.” He turned to Clary and said, “We’ll go to your apartment and check it out and hope Dot didn’t have the cards on her when Valentine…”

“Dot doesn’t have the cards.”

“Luke!” Clary cried as she ran into his arms and hugged him.

“Lucian, I assume that you are here to be questioned by Representatives?” Magnus asked him.

Luke nodded as he adjusted Clary in his arms so that the book was no longer digging into his arms.

“How do you know she doesn’t have the cards?” Izzy asked.

“Because I have them,” he said as he placed a kiss on Clary’s head, “When I heard about Clary and her mom going missing, I went to their apartment and cleared everything out that could be used to track her. The cards are in my desk at the precinct.”

“That’s great.” Clary said smiling up at the man, “This should be easy.”

“That what General Custard said.” Magnus huffed.

“Magnus is right,” Luke said, quickly explaining at the girls blank look, “Valentine has spies everywhere, even in the NYPD. We have to be discreet.”

“I don’t think she knows the meaning of the word,” Magnus muttered, smiling as his dom covered up his laughter.

“And it’ll have to wait until after I’ve been questioned by the reps,” Luke finished, ignoring the other two men.

“How long will that take?” she gritted, annoyed at being delayed.

“It will take as long as it will take,” Alec sighed his frustration and annoyance coming back at the girls impatience. He turned to Izzy and said, “While Luke is in with the Reps you two to find Jace and fill him in on what is happening.”

“And what will you be doing?” Clary demanded.

“Well, if it is okay with you, I thought I might go for a shower,” he said as he walked over to a bench and picked up his hoodie. He smirked at Magnus as his sub pouted as he zipped it up.

“You don’t have to get all dressed up just go and take a shower,” he pouted, his lips tugging into a small grin as Alec chuckled and walked back over to him, “I was enjoying the view.”

“I bet,” Alec smiled as he cupped Magnus check and pulled him into a light kiss. They ignored the irritated sighs coming from the red head as he pulled back and asked him, “Will you take Luke to the Reps office?”

Magnus nodded and Alec pressed one last kiss to his lips, thumb brushing his check bone before he let his hands drop. He turned to the two women and pointed to Clary as he warned, “You will find Jace and fill him in, but under no circumstance are you to leave this building, do you understand?” he watched as Izzy nodded, but seeing the clear reluctance on Clary’s face, he promised, “If I even think that you are going to try and sneak out I will have Magnus lock you up in your room.”

“Fine,” Clary snapped as she slammed the book into his chest, ignoring the wince from Magnus at the mistreatment of his book, and turned and stormed out of the training room. Izzy throw him an apologetic smile as she followed her calling after her.

“People have no respect for old, rare and precious things,” Magnus muttered as he took the spell book from Alec and inspected it for any damage.

“I do,” Alec smirked as he placed a kiss on his forehead before he too walked out of the training room.

“Thank you, darling,” he called after him, before he turned and frowned at Luke as he asked, “Wait did he just insult me by calling me old?”

“Yes, but he also called you rare and precious,” Luke chuckled as they began to make their way to the offices, “Which you have to admit is an apt description.”

“Yes, well I’ll be sure to think something to get him back for the old comment.” he said as he knocked on the office door.

After quick introductions he left the three to there business and quickly made his way through the Institute to his rooms. If he was lucky he might still find Alec in the shower.

 

***

 

Alec smiled as he walked away from the training room and heard his sub asking Luke if he had insulted him. His mate was adorable when he pouted.

“Alec, I need a word with you.”

Alec let out a tired sigh as he stopped outside his bedroom and turned to see his father walking down the corridor towards him, “What can I do for you father?”

“I would like to discuss the proposition your mother made?”

“Propos…you mean marrying me off to someone I have never meet until a few days ago?” he scoffed with an eye roll as he added, “As I have already told mother and Lydia, it is not going to happen.”

“I think you misunderstood what your mother is proposing,” Robert tried to explain, “We are not asking you to give up your marriage or bond to Magnus. We are asking that you marry Lydia to help save this family. With Valentine back the Clave …”

“The Clave are not my problem. They are not questioning the loyalty of the Lightwoods,” he interrupted, speaking over his father, “They are, however, questioning you and mother, being former Circle members. So there is nothing that needs to be saved.”

“Alec we …”

“You know, all I have ever wanted was to make you and mother proud, but you never let me forget how disappointed you were in me because of my broken bond. You never let me forget that you saw me as a lesser Shadowhunter because of it. I trained twice as hard as any Shadowhunter and you still made me feel like I wasn’t good enough to be a Lightwood.” He took a deep breath to control his growing anger before he added “You and mother drilled it in to me that all I was good enough for, was to be a soldier. To be the tool that you could use to sweep your dirty history under the rug, to save you and and restore the Lightwood name.”

“It wasn’t like that Alec,” Robert tried to explain, “Your mother and I, we want you and your siblings to better than us…”

“No, you wanted us to fix what you broke,” he said, talking over his father, “And that is what I’m doing, but I’m doing it on my terms. Terms that does not involve me marrying someone else, especially some Shadowhunter that you know the Clave will see as more legal and important than my marriage and bond to Magnus.”

“Alec…”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an Institute to get back to running,” he turned his back to his father to enter his room only to pause and back to him as he said, “And another thing, if you ever try to use Izzy or even my brothers or Magnus to get to me, I won’t hesitate to follow through on my promise to mother to go to the Clave and finish the excommunication.” He paused to let his father see how serious he was before he finished “That way, you and mother will never have to worry about the Lightwood name as you will no longer have the Lightwood name.”

Without waiting for a response and turned and entered his bedroom, closing the door in his fathers face. He collapsed against the door with a tired groan. This week had been one of the most stressful he had had to endure since, ironically, since the time he had almost lost Magnus to his parent's plot to kill him five years ago. He should have followed through and completed the excommunication, that way he would have one least thing to worry about.

With a grunt he pushed himself away from the door and walked into his bathroom. After a quick shower he was dressed and sitting on the bed when the door opened. He looked up and chuckled at the look on Magnus face as he leaned against the door.

“What’s with the pout?” he asked him.

“I was hoping that you would still be in the shower,”

“Sorry,” he smiled as he stood up and walked over to him. He gently pulled him away from the door and wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him into a light kiss before he pulled back and rested his forehead against his mates, as he said, “I’d rather be locked in here with you, but unfortunately we both have work to do.”

“I suppose we do,” he agreed sadly as he trailed his hands up his arms to play with the hair at the base of Alec neck.

Alec placed a quick kiss onto his forehead before he stepped back and walked over to the chair and picked up his jacket and pulled it on.

“Oh, I've been meaning to talk to you, but with everything that has been happening, I haven’t really had the chance,” Magnus said as he watched his dom finish getting ready, “After I was questioned, Lydia asked to talk to me in private. When I asked her if you should be there she started to act a little strange and told me it wasn’t important.”

“Yeah, it turns out that the Shadowhunter that my parents arranged for me to marry is Lydia. She tried to talk to me about wedding arrangements. Apparently my parents, along with arranging the marriage, also took care of all the wedding details, but she thought that we should have some say in what was happening,” he shrugged as he snorted and added, “She wasn’t too happy when I told her that it wasn’t going to happen. She tried to convince me that it would be a marriage in name only, that it would be a political alliance between our two families. I think she wanted to talk to you about it and try to talk me into the marriage.”

“Well, it’s clear she doesn’t know either of us.”

“No, she…” he was cut of at the sound of Magnus phone ringing.

Magnus pulled out his phone out of his pocket.

“It’s Raphael,” he said as he answered it.

“Papa!” He said urgently, “I need you to come to the Hotel!”

“What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning at the urgency he could hear in the vampires voice.

Alec tensed as he felt his mate’s worry and concern for the vampire through their bond. He stepped closer and placed his hands on Magnus hips, silently offering his support.

“I…I need...there is a…You need to come to the Hotel,” Raphael stuttered as he pleaded for his papa’s help, “Please, I need your help.”

“Raphael, darling, I need you to calm down and tell me what is wrong,”

“Just…just come to the Hotel, please, now!” he said before he hung up.

“Great, what more could go wrong,” he muttered as he put his phone away as he looked at Alec and told him, “Something is going on at the Hotel and he needs my help.”

“Okay,” Alec nodded, “Jace and Izzy can go with Luke and Clary to the station, hopefully Luke can keep them out of trouble.”

“You don’t need to come with me,” Magnus tried to reassure him, “I’m sure whatever is going on I can handle it.”

“I’m sure you can too,” he said as he slid his arms along his hips, pulling him into his arms as he added, “But he called you personally, not the Institute or the Council, which means he was calling his papa. Not the High Warlock or Council member. So, this is family, personal not professional and I want to be there to help,” he waited for Magnus to nod before he smirked as he added, “Beside, I think the less time I spend with Fray might be best for everyone.”

Magnus laughed lightly as he agreed, “Yeah, lets go and tell them the change of plans.”

Alec nodded and stepped back as he took his hand and led them out of their room to meet the group waiting for them in the Ops Centre.

“Luke!” Magnus exclaimed, surprised to find him with the others, “You’ve finished with the Reps already?”

“Yeah,” he smiled at him. He knew he wasn’t in there too long, with a small shrug he explained, “I guess my experience as a cop helped expedite the process.”

“Whatever,” Clary huffed, impatiently snapping, “We can talk about this on the way to the station.”

“About that, there has been a slight change of plan,” Alec said, talking over a protesting Clary as he finished, “Magnus and I can’t go with you.”

“We have some personal matters that we have to attend to,” Magnus said quickly before she could say anything “You four can still go to the station and get the cards and we can all meet back here, later.”

“Actually,” Izzy spoke up, “I can’t go either. I have an autopsy that I have to get finished and reports that need done.”

“But Izzy…” Clary glared angrily at her, but was cut off by Luke.

“It’s fine Clary,” He said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to calm her down, “We’re only going to the station, not demon hunting, the three of us will be fine.” When she went to argue he held up his hand and said, “Come on, the sooner we leave the quicker we get there and back.”

“Thank you,” Alec nodded to him as he ushered the other two out of the room. When they were gone he turned back to his sister and asked, “You don’t have any reports or autopsies pending, so what is going on?”

“I have my own personal matter to take care of,” she told him but seeing the worried expression on his face she quickly reassured him, “It’s nothing to worry about, I promise. Now go and do what you need to do and call me if you need any help.”

Without waiting for a response she left the room aware that Alec and Magnus stared after her worried.

Alec took a deep breath and turned to Magnus and asked, “Ready?”

Magnus frowned at him before he offered, “It’s okay if you want to stay and try to figure out what is going on with her.”

“That’s okay, you and I know that she’ll only talk to us when she’s ready, but thank you.” He smiled at him as he cupped a hand around his check and pulled him into light kiss.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” he promised as he let him go and asked, “Ready?”

Magnus nodded and created the portal. He took Alec hand and led him through, stepping outside the Hotel.

 

 


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter was originally over 20,000, so I've split it in two and I'll post the second part next week after it has been edited.
> 
> Again it hasn't been betaed, so any mistakes are mine.

Izzy walked out of the Ops Centre and quickly made her way to her bedroom. She froze at the sound of her mothers voice.

“Isabelle, I would like to talk to you?”

“Mother?” she took a deep bracing breath before she turned to face her.

“I wish you could understand how difficult it was being the commander of your own children,” she sighed, irritated at her daughters belligerent behaviour.

“You’ve always made your priorities clear,” she said, not bothering to hide her bitterness out of her voice.

“In times of war…”

“We are always at war mother, so please spare me your parenting excuses.”she interrupted her.

“Isabelle, I was doing what I thought was best to protect our family.”

“How exactly was what you did to Alec and Magnus, protecting our family?” she demanded with a glare, “How is what your are trying to do now protecting him, us?”

“Alec understands what it means to be a Shadowhunter. He understands that to protect others we must do what we have to, to protect our family. He understands, and accepts, that this sometimes requires sacrifices.”

“I understand that you think marrying Alec off to some influential Shadowhunter family will improve your standing within the Clave,” she said as she took a deep breath to calm the growing anger, “But you are forgetting something.”

“Alec’s marriage to the Downworlder means nothing,” she scoffed as she added, “The Clave will overlook that marriage, especially if he collars the submissive, in favour of the Shadowhunter marriage.”

“Which is why Alec will never go through with it. He will never allow his submissive, _his soulmate_ , to be treated that way. But that wasn’t what I was talking about,” she quickly went on to explain before her mother could say anything, “Alec no longer considers you and father family. He only allowed you to keep the name because of Max. _Magnus_ convinced him that as Max was so young, it would be unfair to lose his parents completely and so sudden, especially as he was just starting to understand his true dynamic.”

Maryse bit back a grimace at the bitter reminder that it was the warlock that has saved her from losing Max and from complete exile, but she couldn’t help but smile at her daughters passion.

“You remind me so much of myself,” she chuckled, “I was young and passionate once too, but I also confused passion for strength.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, confused at the change of subject.

“Your still so young. You don’t understand that the passion you feel can be dangerous.” she took her daughter by the shoulder and stared her in the eye as she said, “I understand that you love Alec and that you want to protect him, but you are not ready for the responsibility that you think you are. It can’t be you, as you can’t possible attract the calibre of a husband to help restore our honour. Jace, while I love him as my own, is a Wayland and Max is simply too young. It is only Alec that can do this.”

“The honour is in the deed,” she told her mother proudly as she shrugged the hands from her shoulder, “Alec has restored the damage that you and father did from joining the Circle and from what you did to Magnus. Any damage that Jace and I have caused will be fixed by us. As I told father, you are going to have to find another way to improve your status within the Clave.”

With that she turned and entered her bedroom, closing the door in her mothers face.

 

***

 

Magnus closed the portal and pulled out his phone to text Raphael, letting him know that they were waiting outside. They received a text back almost immediately and entered the Hotel to find Raphael pacing back and forth of the lobby.

“Raphael?”

“Papa!” he cried in relief as he turned to him, only to pause in shock at the sight of Alec stood beside him.

As he saw the wary look that crossed the other man’s face, Alec rushed to reassure him, “I’m not here as a Shadowhunter. You asked for your papa’s help, so I’m here as family.”

Raphael carefully studied the Shadowhunter for any deception before he nodded. He turned and walked away calling over his shoulder, “Come with me.”

Magnus and Alec looked to each other before Alec shrugged and took Magnus hand and quickly caught up with Raphael. They followed the vampire as he lead him through corridors, down into the basement.

“Simon?” Magnus gasped as he pushed past the frozen vampire and rushed over to where the young submissive lay unconscious on the table in the dark room.

“What happened?” Alec asked as he and Raphael watched as Magnus ran his magic over the boy.

“Camille,” Raphael said, “She bit him and I’m guessing that she tricked him into drinking some blood. He’s already transitioning.”

“What do we do?”

“There is only two things we can do,” Magnus sighed as he straightened up and turned back to look at them, “Bury him, so that he can complete the transition or let him die.”

“Is that our choice to make?” Alec asked as he stared at Simon.

“No,” Raphael shook his head, “That’s why I called papa. Two of my clan mates found him before dawn this morning, at the back of the hotel. He was unconscious when they brought him in, he woke up briefly crying for Clary. I have been trying to contact Clary, but she kept rejecting my calls. That’s why I eventually called you.” he said as he passed a mobile phone over to Alec.

Alec quickly scanned the phone, he was shocked as he saw the amount of times that Simon calls had been rejected over the past two days.

“It is still not our decision,” Magnus sighed as he turned back to Simon. He ran his left hand through his hair as he clicked his fingers of his other hand, blue flame sparking over his fingers and he gently ran it over Simon’s head. He used his free hand to gently tap his check. He smiled as he let out a groan and began to wake up, “That’s it Simon. I need you to wake up.”

Simon’s eyes fluttered as he rolled his head away from Magnus hand.

“Simon,” Magnus said, voice stern as he gripped his chin and with a small shake he ordered, “Wake up!”

“M…Magnus…” he murmured.

“That’s it, Simon,” he said as he began sending more magic through him to wake him up, “You need to wake up.”

“Magnus…what…” he said as he struggled to sit up, “What…”

“Stay down,” Magnus soothed as he gently held him down. When he was sure that Simon was somewhat alert he looked him in the eye and said, “Simon, I need you to listen to me. Do you understand? It is important that you listen to me?” he waited until Simon gave a small nod before he continued, “Good, because you have a very important decision to make. Do you remember when you were kidnapped by Camille?”

Again Simon gave a small nod and Magnus quickly explained what had happened before he asked, “Do you understand the choice you have to make?”

“To…to…to die or to…become a vampire.”

“That is right,” he told him with a sad smile, gently patting his hair.

“I don’t…I don’t want to die…” he cried, tears running down the side if his face.

“I know Simon,” he soothed as he encouraged, “But you need to decide now.”

“I…I can’t…”

“And neither can we,” he quietly told him, “This _has_ to be your choice, I’m sorry but you have to decide.”

“I…” he closed his eye and took a deep breath before he looked into his eyes, “I want…I don’t want to die…I choose…vampire…I wanna be a vampire…”

“Okay, okay,” Magnus said, he withdrew his magic and let the boy fall unconscious again. He let out a deep sigh as he stood up and turned to the other two in the room and said, “He needs to be buried.”

“He’s choosing to become a vampire?” Raphael asked.

“Yes, he’s still young and he obviously doesn’t want to die,” he explained as continued to gently run his hand through his hair. He looked to Raphael as he asked, “Will you take him in?”

“Of course,” he said, as he watched the way his papa stood protectively over the young submissive. He knew if Simon survived he would have a new member to their family, “How will we bury him? It is still daylight.”

“Magnus and I can do that,” he assured him, he too saw the way Magnus was acting and knew that Simon would be joining them for family dinners. “We can take him to the graveyard and under a glamour we can bury him.”

“We’ll let you know where and you can join us as soon as the sun sets.” Magnus said as he began to prepare moving the boy.

“How…what do we do about the Clave and the Council?” Raphael asked, worried about the repercussion to his clan, “Camille turned a human without his consent.”

“We’ll worry about that later,” Alec answered. He knew he had surprised him with his answer, knew that Raphael was expecting him to report to the Clave about Camille and sanction the Clan. He activated his strength rune and walked over to Simon and picked him up, “First lets get Simon buried.”

Magnus gave a quick nod before he opened a portal and watched as Alec carried Simon through. He turned to Raphael and promised, “Everything will be fine,” before he stepped through the portal to join Alec.

 

***

 

The car ride to the station was quiet and tense, Clary and Jace sitting in sullen silence in the back.

“They should have come with us,” she muttered as she shot Jace a glare.

“Alec has an Institute to run and Magnus has clients and Council business. I’m sure whatever they are doing is just as important as this,” Luke told her, trying to get her to see reason.

“Izzy could have still…”

“Izzy has her own work. I’m sure she would have been here if she could,”

He ignored her grumbling as he parked outside the station and climbed out, not waiting for the others. As they got closer he could still hear Clary grumbling and realised with her currant attitude, being discreet wasn’t going to be possible.

He turned around and held out a hand to stop them as he said, “Alright, the cards are in my desk. It shouldn’t take long.”

“Alright,” Jace said as he tried to push past him.

“Whoa,whoa,” Luke said as pushed at his chest to hold him back, “Remember this is supposed to be discreet. It’ll be easier to avoid unnecessary attention if I go in alone.”

“But…”

“Discreet, remember.” he told her.

“Fine,” she agreed, reluctantly, “We’ll wait here.”

Luke nodded as he gave her a quick squeeze to the shoulder and walked away into the station.

“It sounded boring anyway,” Jace sulked.

 

***

 

Izzy stood in front of her mirror as she admired her reflection, studying her new mature look. Her normally wavy, bouncy hair was tamed back in a low, sleek ponytail. Her dress was much more demure than her usual choice of outfit. The dress was still tight and sexy, but had a much more mature and sophisticated style. It shocked her how much she looked like her mother with her tied back hair and toned done make up and wardrobe.

She had spent the last few days thinking about how hurt Alec had sounded when he snapped at her about how he felt when she and Jace disregarded his orders or his leadership, and what she had started to understand, some of the sacrifices Alec had made to protect her and Jace. So, she was willing to make this sacrifice to make things easier for Alec. She wanted to show him that she had heard him and that she was willing to learn from her failings. That she did respect him as her leader and brother.

With a small smile at her reflection she turned her back to the mirror and sat at her dressing table. She took a deep breath as she picked up her stele and a sheet of paper. The clothes and make up had been an easy sacrifice to make, but what she was about to do was one of the hardest things she had to do. She had never had a serious relationship before she had met Meliorn, always preferring to take a a sub for a few days of fun, but Meliorn had been different. He had touched a part of her dominant side that no submissive had ever touched before, but she was willing to let him go to show the Clave and Council that she was a respectable and responsible Shadowhunter.

She took a deep breath as she sent off a fire message to the Seelie. She stood up and walked over to her bed and packed away the last of her old wardrobe into a trunk. She gave her room one last look over, checking to see if she had missed anything before she closed the trunk and tucked it away under her bed and left her room heading to Ops.

She frowned as she came upon her father knocking at Alec and Magnus door.

He turned as he heard her coming up behind her. He frowned as he saw her choice of outfit, concerned he asked, “Is everything okay?”

“Better than ever,” she said.

“Is there anything you want to talk to about?” he tried again.

“No, everything is fine,” she said with a quick shake of her head as she said, “Do you need something?”

“Have you seen Alec?” he asked as he accepted that she didn’t want to talk to him.

“He and Magnus are out on a personal matter.”

“The Clave have asked to see the Institute reports on the recent demonic activity in the city.”

“I can get that for you,” she said as she began to make her way to Ops.

“I know you can, but the Clave…” he said as he followed her.

“Will be fine getting them from me,” she insisted as they entered Ops and walked over to the main computers. As she worked she asked, “You know, you haven’t asked if I have talked to Alec yet?

“I don’t need to,” he said as he accepted the tablet of updated reports. He remembered his own encounter with Alec and looked her in the eye as he said, “You and your brother have made your opinion on the matter very clear. I’ll talk to your mother and make sure she understands too.”

“Thank you,” she nodded, dismissing him as she turned her back on him and walked over to Stephanie to check in.

 

***

 

“What is taking him so long?” Clary complained as she stood beside Jace watching the station doors. She bit her lip nervously before she turned to Jace and said, “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“I know a way we could find out,” Jace told her from where he was slouched against a police car, “We could go in and see for ourselves.”

“No, Luke told us to stay here,” she said as she slumped onto the car beside him, “So, that is what we are going to do.”

Her phone rang and she pulled it out of her phone. She frowned at it before she hit the reject button. Jace watched and knowing it wasn’t the first call she had rejected he asked, “Who keeps calling you?”

“Simon,” she dismissed as she turned her phone off and shoved it in to her pocket.

“Just so we’re clear,” Jace asked as something caught his attention, “But Luke said something about trying to avoid attention, right?”

Clary looked to where he was staring at the station windows and saw Luke being escorted by two men.

“Because, from the looks of it, he is doing a terrible job.”

“Circle members?” she asked.

“No mundane’s,” he said as he used his enhanced sight as he read one of their badges, “Internal Affairs Officers.”

“You can tell all that just from looking at them,” she laughed.

“No, I can tell that by reading their badges,” he smirked as her. At her confused look he pulled up his sleeve and showed her his enhanced sight rune, “Better than binoculars.”

“So, what are we going to do?” she asked him.

“Luke had his chance,” he said as he activated his glamour rune. “Let’s go.”

“Yeah, okay.” she agreed as she pulled up her sleeve to activate her own rune and followed him.

 

***

 

Alec stepped through the portal and looked around the graveyard, before he gently laid Simon down on the ground. He straightened and turned to wait for Magnus to step out and close the portal.

“I’ve never taken part in something like this, what do we do?” he asked as Magnus turned to face him.

“Raphael is right. He is already transitioning,” Magnus said as he stepped up beside him, “We have to bury him and wait for him to be reborn.”

“What are the risks?” he asked wanting to be prepared for the worst.

“When he wakes, he’ll be hungry and disoriented,” he explained as he moved closer to the young boy and looked him over, worried, “Almost feral. We’ll have to get him under control by feeding him blood, which Raphael will bring, as soon as possible and then he’ll take him back to the hotel, before he can hurt himself or someone.”

“Okay, we can do that,” Alec assured him as he cupped his check and pressed a quick kiss to his forehead. He could feel how worried his mate was, not just about Simon but also about Raphael and his Clan. “It won’t be easy, but everything will be okay. Raphael will take Simon in and help him, just like you took care of him. As for Camille, we’ll make sure that it’s her that pays for Simon’s murder and that Raphael and the Clan will be protected.”

“Okay, you right,” he said as he smiled at him and pressed a kiss to his lip, “Thank you.”

Alec nodded to Simon as he asked, “Is there anything we should do?”

“I don’t know him well enough to know if he has any family religious traditions, not that we have much time.”

“So, how are we going to do this? Are you going to dig the grave with your…” Alec asked as he waved his hand imitating Magnus, as he finished, “Or am I digging?”

“It’d be quicker if I just…” he smirked as he mocked Alec’s hand movement.

Alec scoffed as he nudged him, “Get on with it then.”

Magnus let out a little huff of laugh as he turned to a spot of land and began to slowly move the earth, creating the grave to bury Simon.

 

***

 

The two Shadowhunters quickly made their way through the station looking for Luke. They overheard some officers talking about Luke being held in one of the interview rooms with the Internal Affairs officers.

They stood outside the door arguing about how they were going to get into the room, when the door suddenly opened. Jace squeezed past the detective, tugging Clary into the room with him. They waited until the detective left before Jace turned to Luke with a smug smile on his face.

Luke saw the smile and reached out for a tissue and sneezed into it, “Camera.”

Jace looked around and spotted the camera in the corner. He reached up and disconnected it.

“Luke, what is going on?” Clary asked.

“I think I am about to become the prime suspect in a murder investigation,”

“What do we do?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he told her as he quickly talked over her protests, “I can sort this out. You two need to get to my desk and get the cards, you’ll find them in the bottom draw.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“I’m sure,” he assured her.

“Okay,” she nodded and began to walk out the door only to stop as Luke called out to them.

“You can’t walk out there glamoured,” he warned them, “I’m not the only Downworlder on the force, and we don’t know who’s working for Valentine. If anybody…”

“We could lead them right to the Cup,” Jace finished for him.

“Exactly, better to assume that everybody has the sight than gamble that they don’t.”

They all looked to the door as it began to open.

“Go, I can handle myself.” he urged them.

“Hey, what happened to the camera?” the detective asked as he walked in, Jace and Clary rushing the door before he could close it behind him.

“Now what?” Jace asked.

He grunted in surprise as Clary shoved him into a storage room.

“What the hell?” he snapped, pulling his arm out of her hold.

“We needed some place quiet to hide and deglamour,” she shrugged.

“And you picked this place?” he said with a sceptical look around the cramped room.

“Why not?” she asked.

“There’s got to be a better place,” he said as he scowled at the tight space they where squeezed into, “There’s not much room.”

“Well…” she shrugged as she looked around at the boxes that they were surrounded by.

“Whatever,” he shrugged as he pulled out his stele and ran it over his glamour rune. He smirked as he saw Clary struggle with hers, “Need some help?”

“I can do it myself,” she insisted.

After another two attempts she finally deactivated her rune.

“So, how are we going to get the cards?” he asked, “I doubt we can make it out of this closet with out drawing attention, let alone get to Luke’s desk.”

“I’ve got a plan,” she told him as she opened the she looked back at him over her shoulder and smirked, “Just follow my lead.”

She left the storage room and quickly made her way through the building to where Luke’s desk was. She spotted two officers standing at the filing cabinets and stopped at the entrance and muttered, “Sorry,”

“Sorry for what?” he frowned at her.

Instead of answering him she turned to him and shouted, “You son of a bitch,” and slapped him across the face.

She had to bit her lip to stop laughing at the look of surprise on his face.

“And stop following me!”

She spun around to walk away but he grabbed her arm and angrily whispered, “Hey, what happened to being discreet?”

She ignored him as she ripped her arm out of Jace’s grip and glared, “You cheated on me!”

Jace watched in shock as she stormed over to Luke’s desk and start to open his drawers, searching for the cards. He made to follow her but was stopped by the two officers.

“I…I did not…”

“You’ll never see me at your crappy apartment again,” she cried as she ignored Jace’s cries of innocence.

“Clary, are you okay?”

“I will be,” she said as she slammed the top drawer closed and turned to look at Vargas, Luke’s captain, “Where is all of Luke’s stuff?”

“I.A took everything,” she told her before she asked “What are you looking for?”

“I …I … lost my house key,” Clary said as she waved at the desk as she added, “Luke normally keeps a spare in his desk. Is there any way I can get it?”

“Not until he’s cleared, I’m sorry.”

“Cleared of what?” she asked, acting shocked.

“Don’t worry about it,” she assured her, “We’ve go it handled.”

“Okay, that’s good,” she smiled at her, relieved.

“Hey, Clary, I’m sorry,” Jace called out catching their attention, “I want you to know it only happened once…maybe a couple of times and…”

“Shut up!” the two women shouted.

“Clary, come on!” he pleaded, both playing along and trying to get her to hurry up.

“Clary’s done with you,” the captain said and as she turned to the two officers that were holding back and said, “In fact, take him out of here.”

“Hey!” he snapped as the two officers started to drag him out of the station, “Clary!”

“Thanks,” Clary smiled, grateful, as she crossed her arms and looked at her and said, “I really need that key.”

“I’m sorry, Clary, but I.A has all of Luke’s things in the evidence vault upstairs,” she told her, “There really is nothing I can do, sorry.”

“That’s okay,” she smiled as she shrugged her shoulders, “Maybe my friend Simon has a spare, I’ll, ah, I’ll see you.”

“Bye!” she said a little bemused as she watched the red head rush out of the office.

 

***

“So, are you gonna tell me what the irony is of being my soulmate?” Alec asked.

They had settled against a tree, seated on a blanket that Magnus had conjured up, and had passed the time talking and just enjoying the quiet and calm before they had to be back at the Institute.

Magnus chuckles as he blushed lightly, he tucked his head into Alec’s neck as he mumbled, “I had hoped you had forgotten about that.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” he said as he turned his head and pressed a kiss onto his hair.

“No, it’s just, I guess it’s a little embarrassing,” he chuckled, as he brushed a kiss against his neck before he answered, “It was one of my first encounters with your parents as Circle members.”

He felt Alec tense up and leaned into him and pressed another kiss to his neck.

“The incident with the werewolves and the Whitelaw's?”

“Yes, before the Whitelaw’s turned up and the fighting started,” he paused as he tried to remember what had happened that night, “I can’t remember what I said but I remember your mother said something like fighting for a future for her and her son and I may have responded with something like that I had no interest in the world she wanted for her and her repellent brat.”

Magnus could feel Alec’s body shake as he tried to hold in his laughter. He slapped him lightly on the stomach as he grumbled.

“Shut up, how was I supposed to know that in eighteen years time I would get a soulmate mark that would match her sons.”

“No, you right,” he laughed, “You had no idea.”

Magnus rolled his eyes as he as he waited for Alec to get his laughter under control, where they once again fell into a comfortable silence as they waited for Simon to wake up.

The peace was disturbed when Alec’s phone buzzed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he felt his dom tense up.

“Izzy,” he said as he showed him the message, “Jace and Clary have somehow gotten themselves in to trouble and need our help.”

“Of course they have,” Magnus snorted.

He could sense his husband conflict over what he should do. He tilted his head and brushed a kiss across his check he told him, “Go, I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, he didn’t want to leave Magnus but he also knew that he needed to go and help get his parabatai and Clary out of trouble, again.

“Yes,” he nodded as he stood up and held a hand out for Alec and pulled him up, “Sun set is only a few hours away and Raphael will be here with the blood. So, go and help Izzy save Jace and Clary’s ass, again, from whatever trouble they have gotten themselves into.”

“Okay,” Alec laughed and pulled him into a quick kiss and demanded, “Call me if you need me.”

“I promise,” Magnus said as he opened a portal to the Institute

Alec pulled him close and pressed a kiss to his lips before he stepped through the portal into the main hall of the Institute.

“Izzy,” he greeted as she walked out of Ops Centre. He stopped shocked as he saw her outfit.

She was wearing black tight trousers and a tank top with a leather jacket, her hair was tied back in a sleek ponytail and her make up was toned down. She was still dressed provocative but she had a more professional and mature look to her. He had noticed a change in her attitude since the day she was questioned by the Representatives, and he wanted to talk to her about it, he just wasn’t sure how to bring it up with out getting into any arguments. Knowing they didn’t have time to talk right now he decided it would be something they could talk about later, with a sigh he asked her, “What happened?”

He followed her to the weapons room as he listened to her explain.

“From what I understand, it wasn’t all their fault.” she smirked at him as he picked up his bow and quiver, she passed him his holster and put her own on as she finished explaining what happened to Luke.

“So, Luke is being investigated for murder and the cards are locked away,” he said as he secured his blade in his thigh holster.

“That about sums it up.” she said as they made their way out of the Institute.

They were mostly quiet as they made their way to the station to meet up with Jace and Clary. As he walked he studied his baby sister. She was a strong and fiercely independent, but when he looked at her he couldn’t help but still see the bumbling chubby baby girl that he had promised to protect. He knew she could take care of herself but the big brother in him will always want to protect her.

“Someone call for back up?” Izzy smirked as she and Alec walked up to Jace and Clary, outside the station.

“Yeah, what took you guys so long?” Jace snapped as he glared at them.

“We got here as quick as we could,” Alec shrugged, tired with his attitude.

“Not quick enough,” he muttered.

“We found the Cup,” Clary said quickly wanting to stop any possible arguments, before she added sheepishly, “But then we lost it. We have to sneak back into the station to get it.”

“Well, this is a disaster,” Alec sighed, annoyed.

“Demon Pox is a disaster,” Jace snapped, getting annoyed as well and waving away Alec’s concerns as he said, “This is just an inconvenience. We just need a plan, that’s all.”

“What about a glamour?” Izzy asked.

“We tried that,” Jace said as he went on to explain, “Luke said that there are Downworlders in there and that anyone of them could be working with Valentine.”

“Luke’s right,” Alec agreed with a grimace, “I can name at least ten or twelve Downworlders, not including Luke, that help the Institute out when we need it, and I wouldn’t trust all of them not to report to Valentine.”

“What about Magnus, can he open a portal and get us inside?” Clary asked.

“No. Magnus is…” he paused as he debated weather he should tell her about Simon, but deciding it would be best to keep her focused on their currant problem and tell her later. She already didn’t like him, so he’ll put up with whatever temper tantrum she threw when she found out later. “He’s still dealing with a personal matter, beside he can only open a portal to somewhere he’s been.”

“Doesn’t matter, I’ve got a great plan.” Jace said, smugly.

“That would be a first,” Clary smiled, flirtingly at him.

“Ha, ha,” he laughed sarcastically, “Just follow my lead,” he turned to walk away before he turned back to her and smirked, “Oh, and don’t worry, nobody in my plan gets slapped.”

“You slapped him,” Izzy laughed.

Jace rolled his eyes as he Clary began to talk before he walked away heading to the station, not waiting to see if the others were following. Although he could hear Alec’s grumbling complaints about his stupid plan as they made their way to the station.

 

***

 

“This is a stupid plan” Alec complained again as he entered the station with Izzy. When he saw the desk clerk he asked, “I’m guessing your the distraction?”

“No,” she smiled at him as she added, “I’ve decided it’s time that I grew up, so no more being the distraction for me, besides I don’t think I’m her type.”

“Oh, crap,” he muttered as he saw how the dark haired submissive’s eyes kept flicking over to him, “Izzy, I don’t think…this is not…you know I’m not…”

“Alec, relax,” Izzy tried not to laugh at how adorable she found it that Alec felt so uncomfortable flirting with any one that wasn’t his submissive, “It is not cheating and Magnus will understand.”

“I know, I know,” he mumbled as Izzy began fussing with his shirt, “Crap,” he muttered when he saw the determined look on her face and realised that he wasn’t getting out of it. He frowned before he let out a deep breath and straightened his shoulders, and walked over to the desk.

He smiled at the desk officer and planted his hands on the desk, “Hey.”

“Can I help you?” she asked, a bored expression on her face.

“Yeah, ah…can I …do you come here often?” he stuttered.

He was mortified. He didn’t understand why he found it so difficult to flirt with other submissives, except with Magnus, with Magnus it was easy. They fit so easily together, form the moment they had meet it had been easy. He knew it was in part because of the soul bond, but he had always found it easy to just be himself with Magnus.

“I work here.” she rolled her eyes at him, “What can I help you with?”

He bit back a groan as he accepted that flirting with her wasn’t going to work. He cleared his throat and quickly scanned the desk and spotted her badge at the edge of her desk and the open bottle of water on the opposite side near a stack of information leaflets. He decided to ditch the flirting approach and go with the clumsy approach.

“Right, right, I’m…I’m just looking for some info,” he said as he reached out to take some leaflets and knocked over the bottle of water, “Oh wow…I am so sorry.”

While she was distracted trying to clean up the spilled water he reached out and flicked the badge towards Isabelle.

“That is such a mess. I am so sorry.” he kept repeating as he took some leaflets and tried to help her.

“It’s fine. It’s fine. I’ve got it. Just…go,” she said trying not to snap at him, “Go.”

“Are you sure,” he asked and winced as she glared at him and with a sheepish smile he said, “I’m sorry, okay, so sorry.”

He took some leaflets and with a final “sorry” left to go and find Izzy.

“That wasn’t so hard now was it,” Izzy smirked at him.

They quickly made their way to the basement and used the guards card to open the secure gate and made their way to the generator and turned of the buildings electricity.


	22. Chapter 22

“So, I was promised a great plan,” Clary said as she followed Jace into the building, “No, you said a _really_ great plan.”

“We’re heading up to the vault,” Jace said as he pressed the button to the elevator. “Alec and Izzy are handling the rest. All we have to do is wait for their signal and grab the Cup.”

The lift doors opened to reveal Alaric, who was too absorbed in reading a file to notice them. Jace grabbed Clary and dragged her around the corner, so he wouldn’t see them. Once they were sure they were clear they came out from their hiding spot and quickly entered the lift.

“He’s on our side,” Clary said.

“You sure?” he asked her as the lift door closed, “He was part of the pack that kidnapped Simon.”

“Good point,” she said as she watched him press the stop button,. “So, what now? Are we supposed to climb the elevator shaft and waltz into the vault unnoticed?”

He reached up and lifted the tile of the lift panel and smirked, “Now, why didn’t I think of that.”

She laughs until she sees how serious he looks, “Wait, you kidding, right?”

“Remember the binoculars?” he asked as he let the panel fall back into place.

“Yeah,”

He pulled his t-shirt collar to the side to show her another rune.

“This one’s a Nyx rune. It’s like night vision. You can copy mine.”

After a few minutes of letting her study it he asked, “You got it?”

“Yeah, got it.” she nodded as she dropped her bag and pulled her stele out of her back pocket. She took off her jacket as as she asked, “Why do I need night vision?”

“You’ll see.” he said as he ran his own stele over his own Nyx rune.

She huffed annoyed at his vagueness. She took a deep breath as she tugged her t-shirt away from her neck and prepared to draw the rune on the back of her left shoulder.

He saw that she was struggling. He smirked, “Feel free to ask for help,” without waiting for an answer he pushed away from the wall and took a hold her hand holding the stele and helped her to draw the rune.

“I, uh, I think I can take it from here?” she whispered.

“Where’s the fun in that,” he smiled as he leaned into her.

As soon as the rune was drawn she stepped away from Jace, flustered, and pocketed her stele. She looked around the lift and not noticing anything different she said,

“I think you messed something up.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Then why isn’t it working?”

“It is, you…”

Suddenly the lights went out and the alarms started to blare.

“That’s the signal,” he told her.

“Whoa!” she said as she looked around the darken lift, noticing how a green glow began to radiate off of Jace.

“Right,” he said as he smiled at her. He pointed to the lift panel and smirked, “Going up.”

He moved the panel and jumped up into the shaft and turned back to hold out a hand to help her up. They quickly climbed up the shaft until they reached the top. Jace kicked in the shaft and quickly climbed into the vault, turning to help Clary into the room. Clary pulled out her witchlight and began searching for the box holding Luke’s belonging’s, only having to hide once when a guard came in.

“Here, I’ve found it,” she shouted as she pulled out a box and placed it on the table.

She opened the box and tipped it over and emptied out the contents onto the table and searched through it.

“This is it!” she said as she picked up the elegantly decorated tarot cards. She quickly searched through the cards and gasped, “This is it!”

“That looks exactly like the Mortal Cup.” Jace said.

“This had to be it,” she smiled excitedly at him as she tried to reach into the card. She frowned as nothing happened.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he crowded into her.

“I don’t know…I’m not sure…”

“Your not sure what’s wrong or your not sure this is where your mom hid the Cup.”

“I don’t know,” she said as she kept trying to reach for the Cup, “This is it. I know it, I can feel it, I’m sure. I just can’t…”

“It doesn’t matter. We need to go,” he told her, quickly scanning the room, “I don’t know how much longer the electricity will be off, so grab whatever you need and lets go.”

Clary nodded as she grabbed the tarot cards, as well a framed photograph of her, her mother and Luke that had been taken some time last year and stuffed them into her bag as she followed Jace back into the shaft and out of the building.

“Did you get it,” Alec asked as soon as he and Izzy saw them outside the station.

“Theoretically,” Clary winced, waiting for him to snap at her.

“What does that mean?”

“I, ah, I found the card,” she stuttered, surprised that it wasn’t Alec, but Izzy that had questioned her. “But I can’t seem to get it out of the card.”

“Whatever,” Alec broke in. His eyes kept looking around the area at all the cops and people walking around, “We don’t have time to talk about this. We can talk about it back at the Institute.”

“Alec’s right,” Izzy said as her ruby necklace began to pulse, “I don’t think we are alone.”

“Let’s go,” Alec said and began to head back to the Institute.

“Wait, guys, what…” Clary called out as she jogged to keep up with them, “Guys, wait up.”

She was too busy looking around, trying to see what it was that the others were worried about, that she missed the old lady she bumped into, knocking her bag from her hands, “Oh god, I’m so sorry.”

She knelt and began to help her gather her stuff back in to her bag. She looked up and gasped in shock as the old lady transformed into a demon.

“Hey, grandma!” Jace shouted.

The demon turned away from Clary and lunged at Jace, who stabbed her in the stomach with his blade.

“What the hell was that?” Clary cried as she watched the demon burst into the ash.

“How did it find us?” Alec asked as he and Izzy jogged back to them.

“I don’t know,” Jace said as he watched the disguised demons coming at them, “But she brought some friends.”

“How can you tell?” Clary asked, searching everybody, trying to see what the others are seeing.

“It’s like seeing through a glamour,” Jace told her as he took her by the arm and began to lead her away, “You just got to pay attention to the details.”

“But I still can’t see anything,” she cried, head swivelling from side to side, looking for those details.

“Small details,” Alec explained, “Focus on one thing, typically it’s the eyes that give them away.”

“Guys!” Izzy warned as more demons began to run after them.

“Okay, there’s too many people around.” Clary said looking around and finally, thanks to Alec’s advice, seeing the difference between the mundanes and demons.

“I don’t say this often, or ever really, but I agree with Clary,” Alec said, eyes on the mundanes milling about, unaware of the danger they were in.

“We have got to get out of here,” Jace said as he looked for an escape route.

“Hey, this way,” Clary reached out to grab Jace arm and dragged him through the square and down some stairs, Alec and Izzy following them.

Alec let out a pained gasp as he stumbled mid way down the stairs and leaned against the railing, clutching his chest.

“Alec!” Izzy called as she rushed to his side. She grabbed his arm to help steady him and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Magnus!” he panted, leaning heavily onto Izzy, “Something…something’s wrong with Magnus.”

“Jace!” Izzy shouted as she grabbed his wrist to check his mark. She let out a relieved breath at the still bold dark mark.

Jace looked back from where he and Clary had rushed ahead down the stairs. He frowned as he saw Alec leaning against Izzy for support, his face scrunched up in pain.

“What happened?” he asked as he ran back up the stairs.

“Something has happened to Magnus,” she said as she turned to him and asked, “Did you feel anything?”

“No, I felt nothing,” he said with a shake of his head.

He never felt anything from Magnus through the parabatai bond, he knew Magnus could sense him through his bond with Alec, but he had never felt the same from Magnus. He didn’t know if that meant that Magnus was blocking his side of the bond or of it just wasn’t that strong on his own side. He never really gave it any thought as he knew he wasn’t as close to Magnus as the rest of their family. He knew that had always been his choice, he had never really been able to get over his feelings of resentment at having been replaced in what he felt should be his place in Alec’s life as his parabatai. He knew his feelings were irrational, that Alec never treated him or acted in any way different to feel less important. He knew that the parabatai bond was important to Alec, and that Magnus had never acted in any way that made him feel like he was making Alec choose between them, but he couldn’t help but feel resentment towards the warlock.

“Guys, we have to go,” Clary shouted as she saw group of demons start down the stairs.

“We’re coming,” he said as he pulled Alec’s arm over his shoulder and dragged him down the stairs.

Izzy ran down ahead of them and pulled out her stele and used it to unlock the door. They ran in and Izzy slammed the door shut and sealed it shut with a locking rune.

“That’s not going to hold for long,” Alec mumbled, from where he began to stand up away from Jace’s support.

“You okay, dude?” Jace asked as he help him to stand up.

He looked over Alec, who was still pale but didn’t look to be in any more pain.

“Magnus?” Izzy asked him.

“Is fine,” he smiled at her. He was standing on his own, no longer stunned by Magnus sudden pain. He ran a hand over his chest where he could feel Magnus reassuring warmth pulse through him. He could sense his mate through their bond, knew that he was safe, but he didn’t know what had happened to him and that worried him as he didn’t know if he was still in danger or not.

“Good, let’s get out of here.” Jace said he began to his way to the back of the room, he paused as he noticed that Alec wasn’t following them.

He turned to see that Alec was still stood at the start at the corridor, facing the door where the demons were banging to get in. He had his bow and arrow set and pointed at the door.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he walked back over to him.

“I’m going to hold them off,” he told him as he nodded to Clary, “You two get her and the Cup safely back to the Institute.”

“No, after what just happened to you, we are not leaving you behind.”

“Don’t be stupid. I’m fine.” he insisted, “If the demons get the Cup, we are all dead, anyway.”

“If you stay, I stay. We fight together.” Jace snapped.

“Since when,” Alec scoffed, before he took a deep breath and with a glare he said, “I’m giving you an order.”

“I know you two are having a moment, or whatever,” Clary sighed, annoyed and a little afraid that they were still here, she ignored the glare Izzy shot at her as she added, “But we really need to go.”

Izzy nervously watched as her brothers argued. She wanted to be this new responsible Shadowhunter and show Alec that she respected him and would follow his orders, but she also didn’t want to leave him behind in danger.

Decision made she took a deep breath and smirked at Jace, “Don’t worry Jace, it’s not the first time Alec’s had to save your life.”

It hurt her to see the look of shock that flashed across Alec’s face as she defended him. It simple hardened her resolve to show her brother more respect and belief, “And I doubt it will be the last time.”

She ignored Clary’s huff of annoyance and Jace look of disbelieve as she walked away.

Alec pushed past the shock of Izzy defending him and Jace’s anger and and ordered, “Go!”

Jace pushed past him, bumping his shoulder, and grabbed Clary’s arm and dragged her out of the room and following Izzy.

Alec turned back to the door, just as the door burst open. He shot the first demon, his next arrow ready. He lost himself in the rhythm of readying and firing his arrows until he ran out and fought the last of the demons with his blade, with the final demon taken care of he pulled out his phone and called Magnus.

“What happened?” he demanded as soon as his submissive answered.

“Hello darling, I’m fine. How are you?” Magnus drawled.

“Magnus!” he snapped, not in the mood for Magnus playful nature right now.

“I’m fine,” Magnus quickly assured him, feeling the genuine fear through their bond, “Things got a little messy, but every thing is fine now.”

“Where are you?”

“We’re back at the hotel now,”

“Can you open a portal so I can come through?”

“Alexander, I’m fine,” he tried again to reassure his husband, “In fact I’m…”

“Magnus!” he quietly pleaded, “Don’t make me make it an order!”

“Okay,” he said softly, he was scared at the desperation he could feel pulsing their bond, “Where…”

Ale had already left the building and was walking towards the shopping area of the street an told Magnus, “I’m five minutes away from Taki’s.”

“Okay, there will be a portal waiting for you.”

“Thank you,” he said as he hung up. He ran the rest of the way to the restaurant that he and Magnus goes to. He slipped down the dark alley, to the back of the restaurant and found the promised waiting portal. He stepped through to the front of the hotel and in to Magnus waiting arms.

 

***

 

Jace, Clary and Izzy ran through the corridors trying to find a way out of the building.

“Jace, wait!” Clary gasped as she stopped to lean against a wall, panting a little as she tried to catch her breath.

“S’kay, we can take a breather,” he told her as he kept look out as she rested.

“I’m sorry, Jace.” she breathed.

“It’s okay.”

“No, I…” she trailed off as her eyes went to Izzy, wary.

“I’ll scout ahead,” Izzy said, with a roll of her eyes.

She pulled out her seraph blade and began to move forward, leaving Jace and Clary behind. She sighed as she thought back to the argument between Jace and Alec. She now understood how Alec felt regarding their attitude and actions, but she couldn’t help but feel that there was something more going on. Something else that was causing him to finally speak up about how he felt, to try and make them understand what they were doing.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as her necklace began to pulse.

“Guy’s we’ve got company,” she shouted, getting Jace and Clary’s attention, “They’re getting close.”

“Izzy, where is it?” he asked as they ran up to her, sword ready.

“I don’t know,” she said as she scanned for the demon. She frowned as she noticed that Clary was still holding her witchlight, “Clary, where’s your blade?”

“I…I don’t have one,”

“What do you mean, you don’t have one?” she snapped.

“I didn’t get dressed this morning thinking I was going to be fighting demons,” she snapped back.

“You know, I’m starting to think Alec is right about you,” she growled as she shoved her own blade into her hand and added, “You are never going to be a real Shadowhunter if you do not start thinking like a soldier,” She let her snake bracelet slither down her hand to form her whip as she finished, “Always, you should always, be prepared for a fight.”

She turned sharply and snapped her whip to curl around the demon that jumped down from the ceiling towards Jace, with a quick snap of her wrist she snapped the demons neck and it burst into ashes. She took a deep breath as she turned back to Clary, to look her in the eye as she stated, “To be unprepared will put everyone, not just yourself, in danger.”

She turned to look at Jace as she snapped, “And you should know better,” she ignored his finch as she continued, “So stop pandering to her and start making her understand the reality of the situation.”

“Izzy…”

“I underst…”

“That was a Shax demon, they’ve been tracking us.” she talked over them as her necklace gave a weak pulse, alerting her to the coming demons, “We should go.”

“The Institute is only a couple of blocks from her,” Jace said. He wasn’t sure what was up with Izzy, she normal liked living dangerously and playing with the rules, and he thought she was having fun with Clary around, but it seemed she was having a change of attitude, not to mention wardrobe, over the last two days and he was unsure what to think. She had never gone against him when trying to convince Alec to go on unsanctioned mission or when they snuck out of the Institute, not to mention her comment earlier stung. He would talk to her later and took a deep breath before he turned to Clary and said, “We have to split up. Izzy and I will draw them away, while you make a break for the Institute.”

“But Jace…”

“They’re coming,” Izzy warned as the pulsing from her necklace increased. She could hear the faint chittering of the demons as they scurried across the floor.

“No matter what happens, just keep running.” he told Clary, as the girl hesitated he snapped, “Clary, Go! Run!”

“Jace!” she cried.

“Go!” Izzy snapped as she cracked her whip at the incoming demons.

Clary gasped as she turned and ran down a groaning in dismay as she came to a dead end.

“Crap,” she cried as she heard the sound of the demons crawling along the corridor. She turned and slashed as the first demon that lunged at her, she jumped in shock as it burst into ashes and dropped her blade. She cried as the blade skittered across the floor out of her reach, without getting to close to the demons. She backed up against the wall as she dug into her bag to find the tarot card. As the demons crept closer she pulled out the card and prayed that it would work. She concentrated on the card, imaging the feel of the Cup in her hands. Finally the card began to glow and she reached in and pulled out the Cup.

With a cry of triumph she held the Cup up and shouted, “Get back!”

The demons hesitated before they began to crawl forward again.

She cleared her throat and put more force into it as she commanded, “Get back!”

She smiled as the demons began to back up before they turned and ran away. She ran back through the corridors looking for Jace and Izzy.

“Clary, I told you to run to the Institute,” Jace snapped as soon as he saw her.

“Is that the Cup?” Izzy asked as she pointed to the item in Clary’s hand.

“Yes,” she smiled at them as she held it up for the to see more clearly.

“How?”

“Later,” Izzy snaps as she coiled up her whip, securing it to her wrist, “We have to get back to the Institute.”

“Right,” he said as he smiled at Clary as she put the Cup back in her bag, he tugged on her arm as he lead her through the building, “Let’s go.”

 

***

 

Magnus sighed as he checked his watch for maybe the fourth time in the last hour. The sun had set almost an hour ago and he had text Raphael to let him know where he was and he was just waiting for him to turn up.

When Alec had left he had settled back down on the blanket and conjured a book he was reading from the Institute and had settled in for the wait. He had finished his book twenty minutes ago and was just about to send for another when he saw Raphael enter the cemetery. He smiled as he saw him carrying a cooler, containing the blood packets.

“Papa,” he smiled as he walked up to him and held out a hand to help Magnus up.

“Thank you,” he smiled as he waved a hand over the blanket and book, sending them back to his room at the Institute.

“Have there been any signs of him awaking,” Raphael asked.

“Not yet,”

“Where’s Alec?” he asked as he brushed the tombstone, clearing away dirt and moss before he leaned against it.

“There was an emergency back at the Institute,” he said as he leaned beside him.

“He said you had been injured.” Raphael enquired as he quickly scanned him for any obvious injury.

“I was,” he said, quick to reassure him, “But I am completely healed now.”

Raphael nodded before he said, “Lily, she is sorry that you got hurt. She wishes to apologies formally.”

“I expect to find a bottle of the best whisky on my desk tomorrow morning,” he smiled at Raphael let out a scoff.

“I’ll let her know,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes at his fathers antics. They settled in companionable silence, before he asked, “So, Valentine really is back.”

“Yes, he is.” He said, he let out a tired sigh before he turned to him and tried to encourage, “But I’m hopeful that things won’t be as dire as the last time, at least we won’t be fighting against the Clave as well as Valentine.”

“You really believe that the Clave will…” he trailed off as he stood up.

“Is it Simon?” he asked, he hadn’t heard anything, but vampires did have better hearing then most.

“No!” he growled as Camille sped up to them. He stepped in front of Magnus protectively, “Camille, what are you doing here?”

“I want my property back,” she said as she slinked her way across the grass, “So, if you’ll just hand him over, I’ll be on my way.”

“You murdered him, Camille,” Magnus said as he stepped around Raphael, “We’re not just going to hand him over to you, so you can make him disappear.”

“Fine, I tried to do this the nice way,” she rolled her eyes as she clicked her fingers, and they where surrounded by her vampires.

“I’m glad you brought your people here to witness your demise,” Raphael smirked as he took step towards her. He waved a hand at the freshly dug grave and told them, “You heard Magnus, Camille killed this mundane. Now we have all the proof that we need to prove that she has been breaking the Accords.” he pause ans waited until the vampires took in the weight of the situation as he finished, “He is the evidence we need. Magnus is here as a witness from the Council.”

Magnus jerked slightly in surprise at what Raphael said. He wasn’t expecting it, but it made sense for him to act as a witness to Simon’s transition as proof of Camille’s crime. He thought he should say something in support but with a quick look at the tense vampire he realised that this was something he needed to do himself.

Camille chuckled as she mockingly laughed at him, “Are you trying to over throw me?”

“No,” he smirked at her as he clicked his fingers and they were surrounded by his own loyal vampires, “I already have.”

Camille looked around nervously. His vampires clearly out numbered her own. She licked her lips as she watched Raphael’s men continue to move in on hers.

“Don’t listen to him,” she said, trying to convince them to switch sides, “Raphael doesn’t know the first think about being a leader. I have given you everything you have ever wanted. All the riches, all the pleasures you desired.”

“All by breaking the Law,” Raphael growled, “Which will only lead to our destruction.”

“We can fix this,” she snapped as she glared at them, “All we have to do is get rid of the mundane.”

“And what about me?” Magnus asked, deciding now was the time was the time to step in.

“I’m sorry, my love,” Camille simpered as she took a couple of steps towards them as she smiled at him, “But you have become a casualty of war.”

“Is this what you want,” Raphael asked all of the vampires, “A rabid leader who will lead all of us to our destruction, because what do you think the Council will do when they find out that we are responsible for the death of one it’s prominent members.”

“Wait!” Camille shouted as his vampires began to converge on her, but they ignored her, there was a slight scuffle and she was subdued before the vampires speed away from her.

“Where are they taking her?” Magnus asked.

“Back to the hotel,” he shrugged as he turned around to face him, “We’ll contain her until the Clave or the Council come to collect her.”

Magnus nodded as he said, “Smart move, telling them that I was here as a witness.”

Whatever Raphael was going to reply with was cut off as the ground began to rumble.

“It’s time,” he said instead.

Two men moved to stand in front of the grave and waited until Simon dug himself out of his grave. When Simon was out Raphael knelt and opened the cooler pulling out three bags of blood.

“Once reborn they are hungry,” he said as he opened the first pack and handed to Simon. He placed the other two packs in front of Simon before he stood up and watched as Simon guzzled the three packs down, blood pouring all over his face and shirt.

“I remember,” he mumbled, remembering when he first found Raphael.

Raphael gave Simon two more packs of blood. Simon panted as he finished drinking the blood. He looked down at his blood covered hands and clothes. He began to panic as he looked around frantically before his eyes landed on the two men.

“Ma...Magnus…” he panted, “What’s…what’s happening…?”

“Simon?” Magnus said as he took a cautious step towards him. When the new vampire didn’t move he knelt in front of him and asked, “Do...do you remember what happened?”

“What?” he asked, “I …I’m …Camille …it was real…it was all real… Camille she really…I’m a …I’m a vampire…”

“Yes,”

“I … you… you made me into a monster…”

“No, Simon!” Magnus cried as he reached out to him, “You are not a monster. You are still Simon, you are still the same.”

“No, I’m not!” he shouted as he banged his fist on the ground, “I’m a monster. I’m a monster and it’s all your fault.”

He growled as he launched himself at Magnus, catching the other man off guard, as he buried his new fangs into his neck. The force of Simon’s lunge caused both men to fall backwards to the ground. He groaned as his head connected with a tombstone, gasping as Simon dug his fangs in deeper and began to drink his blood. Raphael grabbed Simon by the back of his shirt and pulled him up and off Magnus, causing the fangs to rip the skin of his neck.

“What…what did I do…” he panted as he stared horrified at what he had done. He let out an anguish cry as he pushed Raphael away and speed away.

“Papa!” Raphael cried as he hesitated, unsure if he should stay to help his father or go after Simon.

“Go!” Magnus croaked, finally catching his breath and began to heal his neck, “Go, I’ll be fine, get to him before he hurts some one.”

Raphael hesitated once again before he gave a brief nod to Magnus and speed after the new vampire. Magnus relaxed back onto the ground as he concentrated on healing his neck and getting his breath under control. The pulsing in his head from where it hand connected with the tombstone. He could feel Alexander’s panic and confusion and tried to regulate his breathing and speed up the healing of his injuries, as his pain began to fade away he could feel Alec prod at their bond trying to figure out what happened, so he sent warmth and love through the bond to assure him that he was okay.

He heard Simon and Raphael return and sat up to greet them.

“Are you okay?” Raphael asked.

“I’m fine,” he assured them as he stood up and walked to stand in front of Simon. He sighed when the young submissive avoided his gaze, he reached out and gripped his chin and forced him to look at him, “I am fine.”

“But I…I attacked you…”

“Yes you did, but you were angry and scared and you lost control,” he smiled at him as he tried to make him understand, “You’re a vampire now, and your emotions are much more raw and intense. It’ll take a lot of hard work, but you will be able to control them. Which I’m sure you will master in no time if you work hard with Raphael and your new Clan.” he waited until Simon gave a small nod as he said, “Good, now let’s get you settled into your new home and meet your Clan.”

“I can’t…I can’t go home.” Simon asked, looking at him in surprise.

“No Simon, I’m sorry, you can’t go home,” he told him sadly, “Mundanes can’t know about the Shadow World and it would be best if you never saw them again,” seeing the devastated look on his face. He shared a quick look at with Raphael as he added, “But I do understand the importance of family. So, I’m asking you to stay away from them to keep them safe, you don’t want to be the reason for any for them getting hurt.”

“Okay, I…I under stand.” he said, reluctantly.

“Thank you,” Magnus smiled as he leaned in and gently kissed him on the forehead, before he looked at him and added, “Besides I believe that your going to be welcomed into a new family.”

Simon looked between Raphael and Magnus before he let out a small hopeful smile and muttered, “Okay, I’d like that.” before he passed out.

Raphael let out a small grunt as he just caught him and lifted him up into his arms, cradling him safely to his chest. Magnus opened a portal and they stepped through outside of the hotel. Raphael lead him into the building and began barking orders to his clan mates as he carried the trembling boy into the lounge and settled him down on to a couch.

“Clary?” Simon muttered.

“I’m sorry,” Raphael said softly as he knelt beside his new fledging. He ran a soothing hand through his hair as he said, “I tried calling her when we found you, but she never answered. We’ll keep trying.”

“Don’t bother,” muttered as he snuggled into the couch, as he finished bitterly, “She never answered any of my calls either.”

“Okay,” he sighed as scanned the trembling boy in front of him and said, “You need some more blood,”

He turned and called out to one of the vampires and asked him to bring in some more blood, before he turned his attention back to Simon, Magnus smiled as he watched Raphael calmed Simon down, all of attention was focused on the fledging. He only looked up when the other vampire brought in the blood before he turned back to Simon and helped him drink and take care of him.

He startled a little as his phone rang. He stepped out into the hall as he took out his phone and seeing it was his dom he quickly answered it.

“What happened?” his dom demanded as soon as he answered.

“Hello darling, I’m fine. How are you?” Magnus drawled.

“Magnus!” he snapped.

“I’m fine,” Magnus quickly assured him, feeling the genuine fear through their bond, “Things got a little messy, but every thing is fine now.”

“Where are you?”

“We’re back at the hotel now,”

“Can you open a portal so I can come through?”

“Alexander, I’m fine,” he tried again to reassure his husband, “In fact I’m…”

“Magnus!” he quietly pleaded, “Don’t make me make it an order!”

“Okay,” he said softly, he was scared at the desperation he could feel pulsing their bond, “Where…”

“I’m five minutes away from Taki’s.” Alec interrupted him.

“Okay, there will be a portal waiting for you.”

“Thank you,” he said as he hung up without saying goodbye.

Magnus quickly exited the hotel and opened up a portal and waited. As soon as Alec stepped through the portal he closed it and stepped into Alec’s arms, letting his dom see for himself that he was okay.

“Are you okay?” Alec asked, even as he stepped back and began to physically checking he was okay.

“I’m okay,” he assured his dom, waiting patiently as he checked.

“What happened,” he asked as he pulled him back into his arms.

“I’m okay,” he said again before he quickly explained what had happened back at the graveyard.

“Is he…” he cleared his throat as he pulled back, keeping his arms around him, “Is he going to be okay?”

“With time and training with Raphael and the Clan, he should be fine.”

Alec wasn’t surprised that Raphael was willing to take him in, he might come across as cold and arrogant, but much like his father he would never turn his back on a lost Downworlder.

“Of course, Raphael isn’t happy that he has a new fledging thrust onto him,” He said as he explained, “Especially as he has to deal with the vampires that used to be loyal to Camille.”

“Well, Raphael is never happy unless he has something to complain about.” he smirked as took Magnus hand and lead him into lounge, and both stood and watched as Raphael took care of Simon.

“I heard that,” Raphael growled at them, only taking his eyes off of Simon to glare at the Shadowhunter.

“How is he?” Magnus asked before the two men could start snarking at each other. He loved them both and they both cared about each other, but they both enjoyed riling each other up.

“It’s like you said,” Raphael said, attention still on Simon, “With time and training, he will be fine.”

“M…Magnus I …I am so sorry,” they boy cried, leaning against Raphael to look at him, his eyes widened as he saw Alec and started to babble apologies.

“Simon…Simon…” Alec tried to stop the subs nervous babbling, finally having enough he used his dom voiced as he barked, “Simon!”

He winced as the young submissive immediately shut up and shrank back into Raphael’s arms. Magnus slapped him on the arm and gave him a reproachful look, he gave a quick squeeze to Magnus hand and shot him a apologetic look as he stepped closer to the couch. He ignored the glare from Raphael as he knelt beside him and looked Simon in the eye as he said,

“Simon, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap, just…you have nothing to be sorry for. If you want to make it up to us, then you’ll stay here and work with Raphael to control your new nature.”

“Yeah, yeah I can do that,” he said as he nodded, frantically, slumping back on the couch.

“Good,” he nodded before he turned to Raphael and asked, “Have you decided what to do about Camille?”

“She made that decision for herself,” Magnus said as he walked closer to them and explained, “She turned up at the graveyard. She wanted to kill Simon to hide the evidence of what she did.”

“She even threatened to kill Magnus,” Raphael informed him, ignoring the glare the warlock shot him.

“What!” Alec snapped at his mate.

“I had planned on telling you everything once we were back home,” Magnus assured his husband. “I also planned to let Emmett and Lydia know and have them arrange for Camille to be brought in.”

Alec could sense the truth from him, so he let it go and stood up and walked over to him and cupped his face as he asked, “Are you okay with that?”

“Yes,” he smiled at him, Alec knew of his past with Camille and he loved that he was concerned about how he felt with Camille arrest, “She was important to me at one time, but that woman down there is not the same woman that rescued me, the one that I fell in love. She needs to be stopped before she can hurt any more innocent people.”

Alec studied him for a few moments and smiled when Magnus opened up their bond completely to show him that he was telling the truth. There was some pain there at having to turn Camille in, but mostly it was from the loss of the woman she had once been, as well as acceptance that this was the right decision.

He placed a kiss on his forehead before he stepped back and turning so that they faced the two vampires and said, “We should get back to the Institute. We found the Cup, but the station got over run by demons. We need to make sure that Izzy, Jace and Clary made it safely.”

“Of course,” he said before asking Raphael, “Will you be okay?”

“We will be fine,” Raphael promised, as he picked Simon up and settled back against the couch, arms secure around the fledging, smiling slightly as he snuggled into his chest.

Magnus smirked as he watched the usually abrasive and cold vampire coddle the new fledging, Alec sensing his mates amusement gently tugged on his arm and lead him out of the hall before he could say anything to tease the two vampires.

“Spoil my fun,” he muttered sulkily as the stepped out if the hotel and he opened a portal.

Alec laughed at his pouting mate as they stepped through the portal and into the Institute.

 

***

 

“Alec!” Izzy cried as she ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he assured her as he pulled her into a hug.

She pulled back and gave him a quick look over before she turned to Magnus and turned to Magnus and pulled him into her arms as she asked, “And you, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” He promised as he hugged her back, “Just an accident. I’m fine, now.”

“Good, you had us worried,” she said as she stepped back.

“Did Clary and Jace make it back?” Alec asked.

“Yes, there in Ops.”

“Do they have the Cup?”

“Yes, but…”

“What?” he asked as she hesitated.

“They don’t want to tell any body that they have it.”

“What?”

“Why?”

“They…they think…they think that they can use it to track Valentine and Jocelyn.”

“Are they out of their minds,” he growled as he stormed passed her in to Ops.

Magnus and Izzy shared a worried look before they followed him. They entered just in time to see Alec take Clary by the arm and pulled her over to the side, away from the main computer banks.

“Alec!” Jace snapped as he rushed after them.

Alec ignored his brother as he glared at the red head and demanded, “Give me the Cup!”

“What…” she stuttered nervously, eyes darting from Alec to Jace and back again.

“Give me the Cup!”

“But …we …we can use it…”

“Do you think I’m stupid. Do you really think I will allow you to use something that could kill thousands of people,” he snapped as he held out his hand and demanded, “Give me the Cup!”

“But, Alec!” Jace said as he pushed between them and faced his brother as he said, “She’s right, we can use it to lure Valentine out.”

“That’s not going happen,” he gritted through his clenched jaw, “It is too dangerous, to much could go wrong, it’s not worth the risk. Now, hand over the Cup or I will have you both arrested.”

“You wouldn’t,” he said, starring at him in disbelief.

He turned to search the Ops, looking for how was on duty that night. He spotted Stephanie and called her over. When she joined them he asked her, “Get a security detail ready to escort these two to the cells.”

“Alec!” Izzy breathed, shocked at how far this was going.

Jace watched as Stephanie nodded and turned to walk back to her desk and soon a group of Shadowhunters entered the room, as they approached them Alec held up his hand, stalling them as he turned back to them ans stated, “The Cup!”

“You know what. Maybe our mother was right and you just aren’t good enough to be our leader,” Jace glared at him.

Alec hid the flinch at his brothers harsh comments as he turned to Clary and said, “I’m only going to say this one last time. Give me the Cup or I will have you arrested.”

Clary’s eyes darted from Alec, Jace and the guards before turning back to glare at Alec as she dug into her bag and pulled out the tarot card and handed it over to him. Alec took the card and studied it before he let out an irritated huff as he glared as he said, “I’m getting really tired of having to repeat my self.”

He waited for her to hand over the Cup, when she just glared at him he turned to the guards and motioned them over.

“Wait!” she shouted as he reached back into her bag and pulled out the Cup and thrust it into his hands, “What are you going to do with it?”

“I would hope that he would be putting it somewhere secure before he contacted the Clave and Council to inform them that you have found the Mortal Cup.”

Everyone froze before they tuned to see Emmett come down the stairs into the Ops room.

“Of course,” Alec assured him, “That was my intention.”

Emmett nodded to him before he turned to Clary and said, “Ms Fairchild, we would like to speak to Simon again, if you could arrange for him to come in.”

“Actually, about Simon,” Magnus stepped closer to them to stand beside Alec, “While informing the Clave and Council about the Cup, we were also planning to inform them of a new fledgling and arrange for the arrest of Camille Belcourt. It would appear that while Mr Lewis was Ms Belcourt prisoner, she drank some of his blood and he was made to drink her blood.”

“Simon’s a vampire?” Clary gasped.

He ignored the distressed girl as he finished, “Camille has been captured and Raphael is holding her at the Hotel, waiting for us to collect her. The boy has agreed to to join the Dumort Clan under Raphael’s tutelage.”

“I’ll contact the Council and arrange for Camille’s arrest immediately,” he turned to Alec and asked, “If you could arrange for some men to collect her and to hold her here in the cells, while we make arrangements to transfer her to Idris.”

“Yes,” he nodded as he turned to Stephanie and the waiting guards and asked, “Could you work with Emmett and organise it?”

“Yes, Sir.” she gave a quick nod and turned to Emmett and began to lead him back to the main computers, the small group of Shadowhunters following.

Alec turned to Izzy and said, “I’m going to put this away some where secure and then Magnus and I are going to bed. Could you let…”

“Wait!” Clary snapped as she pushed past Jace and stand in front of Alec and Magnus and glared at them as she demanded, “What happened to Simon?”

“As I explained he was forced to drink …”

“How do you know what happened to him?” she broke in.

“Raphael called me…”

“Why did he call you?” she interrupted him again. She crossed her arms defiantly as she snapped, “I’m Simon’s best friend, he should have called me.”

“He did, as did Simon,several times in fact.” he said as he pulled Simon’s phone out of his pocket and tossed it at her as he finished, “Raphael only called me after you kept rejecting his calls, as well as Simon’s, your so called best friend.”

“I never…” she trailed off as she remembered all the call she had rejected from Simon and eventually turning her phone off. She scowled as she straightened her shoulders and demanded, “Where is he?”

“Watch your tone!” Alec snapped as he saw his submissive flinch a little. It had been the second time she had asked a question that had almost bordered on being an order and he wasn’t going to let her continue to hurt his sub. He took Magnus hand and pulled him closer, feeling him relax in his hold.

“He’ll be back at the Hotel,” Jace said as he took her arm and tugged her away from Alec.

“I’m going to go and see him,” she said as she turned to him.

“I don’t think…”

“I don’t care what you think,” she said as she turned back to glare at Alec, “Simon is my friend and I’m going to see him.”

Not waiting for a response she stormed out of the room, Jace following after her.

“Shouldn’t we stop her?” Izzy asked, worried about what kind of trouble they could cause.

“They won’t get in,” Magnus assured her, “With a new fledging and Camille in the Hotel, Raphael will have the place locked down.”

“And Emmett will make sure they don’t cause too much trouble,” Alec finished for him as he began to walk out of the Centre and made his way to office. They entered and he pulled out his stele, he walked behind his desk and took down the portrait and used his stele to unlock his safe. He placed the Cup in and locked it up and replaced the portrait as he turned back to the other two and reached for Magnus hand as he said, “Magnus and I are going to contact the Clave and Council, then we are going to bed. Only wake us up if the Institute is on fire.”

“Well, darling, with Izzy’s cooking and Max’s _‘trouble_ ’ with his runes that may be sooner than we like.” Magnus chuckled as they walked out the office.

“Hey, my cooking is not that bad.” she shouted after them.

Alec muffled his laughter as he led Magnus down the corridor to their bedroom.


	23. Chapter 23

Alec ran his hands through Magnus hair, smiling as his submissive nuzzled happily into him. He pulled him in closer as he ran his other hand up and down his back. 

He kissed his temple as he asked, “How do you feel?”

“Mmm,” he snuggled into Alec’s neck.

He chuckled lightly as he placed a kiss on his head as he asked, “Number, baby?”

“One,” he sighed as he rolled onto his back, complaining slightly, “You didn’t take me down too far,”

“Attitude,” he laughed as his sub stuck his tongue out at him. He sighed as he curled around his husband and ran a hand through his hair as he gently explained, “I can’t take you down too deep. We have to deal with the Council and the Clave about the Cup, not to mention Camille will be locked up downstairs.”

As much as he knew Magnus was okay with sending Camille to Idris to pay for her crimes, he was also aware that Camille was important to him. He knew that it hurt his sub to see the type of woman she had turned into, to see that there was nothing left of the woman he had fallen in love with. He wanted her out of his Institute as soon as possible to ensure she didn’t cause his submissive any more pain.

“I know,” he smiled at his dom as he leaned in to nuzzle into his neck, “I’m jut happy to be here with you.”

“I’m happy just being here with you too,” he pressed a kiss to his lips before he sat up and rolled out of bed. He turned back to Magnus and held out his hand as he said, “Come on, I don’t think we can hide away much longer.”

“I know,” he pouted lightly as he took Alec hand and let him pull him up and out of bed. He wrapped his arms around Alec neck as he asked, “Wash my back”?

Alec laughed as he lifted Magnus up and carried him into the bathroom and into the shower. They quickly washed and dressed and headed to the kitchen for lunch. They entered to find Izzy making sandwiches with Clary.

“I’m not hungry any more,” Clary glared at them as she stormed out of the kitchen.

“What was that about?” Alec asked as he went and poured out two cups of coffee.

“She’s angry,” Izzy said as she smiled at Magnus as he began to help her make sandwiches for them all, “She …ah …she blames you for not getting to see Simon,” at their questioning look she explained, “When they got to the Hotel, Raphael refused them entry. Jace said she tried to shout for Simon, but he wouldn’t answer her.”

“Honestly, he was probably asleep,” Magnus said as he placed a plate in front of Alec and sat down beside him with his own, “Turning is exhausting. His body died and then he was reborn. Once the initial aggression, hunger and adrenaline rush wears off, he will most likely sleep for the rest of the day.”

“Jace did say that he tried to explain that to her and that they could come back tomorrow, but she wouldn’t listen,” she ignored the boys snort of laughter as she finished, “She then tried to use the fact that she and Jace were Shadowhunters to try and force their way in.”

“And what did Raphael say to that?” Magnus asked, although he thought he already knew.

“From what I understand, not much.” she said as she pushed her empty plate away, “They weren’t talking last night, but they were escorted home last night by some of the people that went with Emmett last night. Juliet, one of them that was there last night, told Stephanie that they got there just as they were demanding entrance. Emmett told them to go back to the Institute and when they refused he ordered some of his people to take them back, with the threat that if they tried to come back to the Hotel that night he would have them sent to Idris along with Camille, for breaking the Accords.”

“And she thinks this is our fault because?” Alec asked as pushed his plate away and picked up his coffee cup.

“She’s seems to be under the impression that you told Emmett to keep her away from Simon,” Izzy said.

“She really does think that we are out to ruin her life,” Alec snorted as he sat back in his chair, arms crossed.

“No, Alec of course she doesn’t,” 

Alec just waved away the comment as he asked, “Have you been to Ops this morning?”

“No, I haven’t been up long this morning either,” she said, accepting the change of topic, “And it is supposed to be my day off, I thought I’d just take a lazy day, in case you need me.”

“Aren’t you supposed to going out with Meliorn,” Magnus asked, he knew because he remembered she had dragged him around the shops excitedly to buy a dress for the date. 

“Well, yes,” she said as she stood up and began to clean up the kitchen, avoiding looking at them as she quietly added, “But due to recent events we have both decided it would be best if we spent some time apart.”

This surprised both men, Izzy had always been a fiercely independent dominant and preferred to play the field, playing with a sub for a day or two, but recently she had started to get excited whenever she had a date with the Seelie, talking excitedly about him and their dates with them. So, this added with the way she had changed the way she dressed had both men concerned.

“Izzy…”

“Hey, Alec, sorry to interrupt,” Stephanie said as she knocked at the door jam and entered the kitchen, “I heard you were up and wanted to give you my report before I go off shift.”

Alec looked at the clock to see that it was a little after twelve, just about time for the shift changes. He nodded as he accepted the tablet the she was holding out to him and said, “Can you just give me the highlights and I’ll read the rest later.”

“Of course,” Stephanie nodded as she went on , “Most of the patrols have handed in their reports and have reported no unusual activity. Emmett has Camille secured in the cells and has began to process her arrest and transport. Emmett is hoping to have her out of the Institute tonight.”

“Good,” Alec nodded he didn’t want that woman in his Institute any longer than she needed to be, “Thank you, go and get some rest.”

Stephanie gave them a quick nod before she turned and walked out of the kitchen.

“I’m going to find Clary and help her study,” Izzy smoothed down her skirt as she said, “Maria gave her a book on Shadowhunter history and is going to quiz her on it later.”

“Izzy….” Alec called after her, slumping back in her chair when she ignored him and kept walking.

“She’ll talk to us when she’s ready,” Magnus assured him, feeling his mates worry for his sister, along with his own worry for her. Izzy was one of his best friends and he had enjoyed watching her grow more comfortable in her dominance and relationship with Meliorn.

“I know, but you’ve seen how she’s changed, the way she dresses and now Meliorn,” he trailed off as he thought about how his sister had changed over the last few days. He turned in his seat and reached out to take his hand, “She apologised yesterday, when we were in the training room, about her behaviour and never realizing how it was affecting me.”

“That might explain her change of cloths and attitude,” Magnus offered.

“Yeah, she even stood up for me against Jace,” he added with a small smile.

Magnus could feel how much that meant to him. He knew how much his siblings meant to Alec, how proud he was to be their big brother. Knew that while their parents were busy running the Institute it was Alec that had raised and protected them. He also knew how much it hurt him when they would disrespect his orders or what would happen to him due to their actions.

“Yeah, what did she say?”

“Not much, she just told Jace how I was always saving him,” he smiled as he heard his sub snort, “You know she always stood up for me when it came to our parents. When our mother would push me harder because she believed the broken bond made me weaker. Izzy would always have my back for things like that, just like I would have hers whenever Maryse would get on at her, but she always sided with Jace when it came to missions and things. I understood why, it was fun and exciting, but they never saw the other side of it - the official side, the one with all the responsibilities. They just thought I was being boring.”

“They didn’t realise that you were trying to protect them.”

“Yeah,” he sighed, falling silent as he got lost in his memories.

“Can I ask you something?” Magnus asked quietly, a little hesitantly, “It’s just something I have always been curious about…and I don’t …I don’t want you to get upset…”

“Hey,” he said as he reached up and cupped his mate face, sensing how conflicted and worried his mate was, he pulled him in and kissed his forehead as he assured him, “You can ask me anything, you know that.”

“I do,” he smiled as he turned his head and placed a kiss on his palm, his worry fading a little. He took his hands and interlocking their fingers and resting them in his lap. He wasn’t worried about asking, more about what he was going to ask about, but trusting his dom he asked, “It’s about Jace and why you chose him to be your parabatai?”

“What?” he asked, a little surprised.

“It’s just…you and Jace…your not exactly…completable. I mean, I’ve seen you fight together and you are well matched, but you said it yourself, you had years of intense training and testing,” he ran his thumb over his dom’s mark as he continued, “Compared to other parabatai’s I’ve seen over the years…I guess I can’t understand why you would choose someone like Jace, someone who is your complete opposite. Jace is reckless and impulsive, he breaks the rules and has no respect for authority or…or you,” he paused and waited to see if Alec had anything to say, when he kept quiet he quickly added, “And the bond, it’s supposed to be about equality, a partnership and well with Jace, it always seems a little one sided...” he trailed off with a little shrug as he watched his dom, worried that he really had upset him.

He was surprised when Alec let out a small laugh. He felt along their bond and was happy to find that his mate was not angry or upset, but was in fact finding their conversation funny with a little sadness.

“Your right,” Alec said as he let out a deep sigh and brought their hands up to kiss his knuckles before letting them drop back to their laps, “Jace is all of those things, even when we were children, which is why when I learned of the parabatai bond I wanted to ask Izzy to be my parabatai.”

“Really?” 

He wasn’t all that surprised. He knew how close the two were and although Izzy did have an attitude and personality that was similar to Jace’s she was much more supportive and protective of her brother.

“Yeah,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck as he explained, “When my parents were exiled here I was the only kid until Izzy was born and then it was just the two of us until Jace came to live with us. This was before the Clave re-opened the Academy, so the Clave began to send families here, but because of our parents it was still just the three of us. Even though I had Jace and Izzy, I always still felt so alone. I never understood why I felt that way, sad, lonely and empty. Whenever I tried to ask my mother she would look at my wrist and give me this disappointed look before walking away. I was six when I couldn’t take that look any more and started to wear the leather wrist band.”

He smiled as Magnus lifted his arm and pressed a kiss to his mark before he asked, “When did you find out what it meant?”

“I was ten. Hodge sat me down and told me all about soulmates and why my mark was grey. He also explained why my mother treated me the way she did. It helped a little, to final know why I felt the way I did, but it didn’t stop me feeling lonely and sad. I think the reason I’m so protective of Izzy was that I focused all my attention on her to try and forget how I was feeling. It wasn’t until our parents told us about Jace coming to live with us that I learned about the parabatai bond.

“Hodge explained about it and helped me research, even though he warned me that I wouldn’t be considered because of my mark, I managed to convince him that I wanted it and that I thought it could help me. He got me all the books I needed and sent in my request. As soon as he agreed, I went to Izzy and told her everything and was just about to ask her to be my parabatai when Jace stepped into her room and said of course he would be my parabatai.”

“You didn’t tell him that he was wrong?” he asked.

“I couldn’t,” he snorted, “He left just as quick as he turned up. I was about to explain to Izzy what I really wanted, but she congratulated me. Told me it was a good idea and that it would make Jace feel like an official member of the family.”

“Did you ever tell her?” he asked curious.

“I did, but not for a couple years. The Clave approved the bond under the condition that we were to be trained and tested harder than any other pairing,” he bit his lip as he remembered the incident that made him question his decision, “I was fifteen and we had been training for two years when we had our first official test. We had to track a rogue werewolf, it didn’t exactly go to plan and I began to have doubts that I was making the right decision. I went to find Izzy. I wanted to talk to her and explained everything to her, I found her in the training room.” he laughed, his voice full of pride as he said “I watched my thirteen year old baby sister take down three older, fully trained hunters all by her self and I knew that she was too independent to want a parabatai. I left her and went back to training with Jace.”

“I thought you said you told her?” he asked.

“I did, but it was two years after that. Jace had just turned eighteen and the Clave was preparing our final test. We had been out patrolling the night before and Jace was being his usual cocky self and he disobeyed one of my orders, nothing bad happened but I just… I started to question my choice again and the night before the ceremony I almost pulled out of it. Izzy found me,” he laughed as he remembered their conversation and how shocked and surprised she was to learn the truth.

“She thought I was having second thoughts because of my crush on him, and yes I did have something of a crush on him at the time, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.” he shrugged as he went on, smirking, “I think it was the first and last time I’ve ever seen her speechless, when I explained everything. We talked all night, I think that was the last time we talked like that too, but we ended up at the same conclusion. She didn’t want a parabatai and by this point she was interested in the Iron Sisters and didn’t want the complications of a parabatai. She also believed that the bond would help me. Like I was hoping it would as well as calm Jace down,” he scoffed bitterly as he finished, “Although we know how well that worked out.”

“I’m sorry,” Magnus muttered.

“Why are you sorry?” he asked as he let go of Magnus hands and reached up to cup his face, worried at the feelings coming from his mate.

“I just…I feel that if I had gotten my mark sooner then maybe you wouldn’t have had to go through all that.”

“Hey, no, listen to me,” he said as he shifted closer to him and reached out to pull Magnus up off his chair and onto his lap. He pressed a kiss on to his lips before he rested their heads together, “You know how I felt, how lonely and empty. You had such a long life and I wouldn’t wish for you to go through that. So, I’m glad that you didn’t get your mark until you did.” he pressed a kiss to his lips as he murmured, “You were worth the wait.”

“But…”

“It was worth it,” he insisted with another kiss before he said, “Things might be a mess with Jace right now, but it’s going to be alright and at the end of this I will still have you.”

He pulled Magnus into another kiss, threading his fingers into his hair as he tipped his head back to deepen the kiss. The need for air had him puling back, but keeping his head pressed to his sub he promised, “Anything is worth it as long as I get to be here with you.”

“I love you,” Magnus whispered as he pressed a kiss to his lips.

“I love you too, so much.” he said as he pressed one last kiss to his lips before he pulled back and asked, “What are your plans for the rest of the day?”

“I have a client that I need to check up on and make sure the potion is working and healing his scars,” he said as he leaned into his dom, “I’ve arranged for all my clients to be seen by other warlocks over the next few weeks, so that I can free up my time and help look for Valentine and Ragnor.”

“Yeah, I’m worried I’m gonna be relying in Marcus and Stephanie to run the Institute while we look for Valentine.”

“They will be fine. You’ve trained well.” Magnus said, pressing a kiss to the corner of his lips.

“Yeah, I know,” he smiled at him.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Marcus said as he knocked on the door way and entered the kitchen.

“It’s okay,” he smiled at him and gently nudged Magnus up and off his lap and stood up. He turned to Marcus and asked, “What can we do for you?”

“Lydia sent me. She asked that you and Magnus join her and Emmett in their office.”

“Okay,” he nodded as he picked up his tablet and handed it to him, “I haven’t had a chance to go over the reports yet, but if you could update it and leave it in my office I’ll go over it after I’ve finished with them.”

“Of course,” he nodded and took the tablet ad left the kitchen.

“Come on,” he said as he took his subs hand and lead him out to the office area.

 

***

 

Alec knocked on the door and waited for the muffled ‘enter’ before he opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind Magnus.

“Good afternoon, Alec, Magnus,” Emmett smiled at them.

“Emmett, Ms Branwell,” Alec greeted as Magnus nodded to them. 

“Lydia, please,” she insisted.

Alec gave a reluctant nod before he asked, “You wanted to see us?”

“Yes, please sit.” Emmett said as he waved to the seat in front of the desk. He waited for every one was seated before he began, “First, I would like to assure you both that Camille is secured in your cells and is being processed. Hopefully, she will be out of your Institute tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you,” Alec said, “I hope we’ll be kept up to date with what is happening.”

“Of course,” Emmett nodded, ignoring the glare that Lydia shot him as he continued, “Now, as to the reason we were sent here. First, lets talk about Clarissa Fairchild. After completing our interviews and reading all of your reports we have come to agree with you that Ms Fairchild is not working with Valentine Morgenstern or that she was aware of the man or the Cup until she encountered you at your club.”

“We will talk more on Ms Fairchild later, but first we would like to talk about the incident with the Jade Wolf Pack,” Lydia said taking over from Emmett, “We won’t be taking the matter any further. The werewolves attacked you and you were defending yourselves. The pack will be sanctioned with a warning and it has been decided that the alpha, Luke, will pass out any punishment that he deems suitable.”

“The attack on the Hotel is another matter,” Emmett said as he went on to explain, “Although we understand that the attack on the Hotel happened under the best intentions of rescuing the boy, Simon, but it was still an unsanctioned mission that resulted in the death of five innocent vampires,” he pause to look at Alec and asked, “Do you have anything to add?”

“No. The mission was unsanctioned. They violate the Accords, as well as disobeyed my orders. I’ll accept any punishment that the Clave and Council believe the Institute and those responsible is suitable.”

He knew he had surprised the other dom. Emmett was usually involved in any investigation that had to do with the Institute and his siblings. This would usually be the time that he would speak up or step in and cover for his siblings. So he knew he had shocked the vampire by not speaking up. He could also feel how surprised and concerned his mate was. He knew his past actions had his mate worried that he would repeat them. His need to protect his siblings was ingrained into his bones and he knew that Magnus understood that, had seen the consequences of that need personally and he knew how much that scared him. It was why it had been so easy to make the promise to Magnus, that if the next time that they got in to serious trouble he wouldn’t step in to protect them. It was an easy decision to make if it would calm the nervous worry that he could feel through their bond.

“Regarding Valentine Morgenstern,” Lydia broke the stunned silence, “The Clave and the Council agree that you and the Institute are best suited in searching for him, we will both of course offer any assistance that you will require.”

“Thank you,” Alec nodded at them.

“Finally, I’d like to go back to talking about Ms Fairchild.” Emmett said as he took over, “You both have stated that you believe her to be reckless and dangerous and from what we have observed over the last few days we’d have to agree.”

“But I thought you said…”

“We don’t mean dangerous in the sense that she is working with Valentine,” Emmett broke in as he went on to explain, “We mean in the sense that, as you both have said, she doesn’t know or respect our Laws or ways. If her behaviour continues she will become a danger. The problem is that we are having difficulties in deciding on what to do with her. There was a discussion on sending her to the Academy, but…”

“She’s twenty years old and won’t exactly fit in with a group of eleven to eighteen year olds.” Magnus finished for him.

“Exactly,” Lydia agreed with a small nod, “Nephilim enter the Academy at eleven years old to begin their education and training.”

“We know, Max is due to start at the new term.” Magnus said, proudly.

“Yes, we know.” she said with a smile at him, “And that is our problem. We can’t enter her in to a class full of eleven years old and if we put her in with the eighteen year olds she will years behind them - academically and physically.”

“You have both stated that with the proper training she could be come a decent Shadowhunter.” Emmett said and waited until they both nodded in agreement before he added, “We discussed the possibility of sending her to the Gard to be trained, but it was actually something you, Magnus, said that made us question that decision.”

“I said?”

“About her determination to be part f the search for Valentine and her mother,” Emmett answered as he looked to Magnus and said, “I believe you said something about fighting ‘tooth and nail’ to be a part of the search for her mother.”

“We agree with you,” Lydia said, “We have came to the conclusion that any attempt made by us to remove Clary from this Institute would be meet with resistance and I can see from the look on both of you that you agree. Which is why we were wondering if you, this Institute, would be able to give her that training?”

“I think she can be trained here,” Alec said as he went on to explain, “The Academy wasn’t open when Jace, Izzy and I began our training. We were trained by Hodge and I’ve already had him start on her training,” he paused as he looked at his watch before he looked back up at them he said, “In fact, if I’m not mistaken, she should be with Matilda studying runes, right now.”

“Then, we are happy to let her continue her training under your care,” Lydia said as she began to gather up her belongings she said, “I’ll contact the Clave and update them on Clary’s training.”

“When will we know the outcome of the Hotel Dumort incident?” Magnus asked.

“We are not sure,” Emmett said as he too began to clean up, “The Council and Clave have sent some people to the Hotel to talk to Raphael again, we understand he has a new fledging to take care off, but we do have some more questions to ask them. We’ll let you know as soon as we know anything.”

“I think we are we done here,” Lydia smiled as she stood up, “As Emmett said, we will keep you updated as soon as we know anything.”

The dismissal was clear in her voice and the two men nodded and stood up and bid hem good bye and left the office and entered Alec’s office.

“Well, that went better than I was expecting.” Magnus said as he closed the office door.

“Yeah, but it’s not over yet,” Alec sighed as he leaned against his desk, thinking about the attack on the hotel. 

“I think it will be alright,” Magnus tried to reassure him, “They did violate the Accords by attacking a Downworlder residence, but like they said, they did it with good intentions of rescuing Simon. I think that will go in there favour.”

“Your right,” he acknowledge as he stood up and walked over to his sub and pressed a kiss to his temple and said, “I need to go over the reports from last night, but come find me for when your ready for some dinner.”

“I will,” he promised as he pressed another kiss to his lip before he turned and opened the door and said before he stepped out, “But you come find me too?”

“Alright,” he smiled as he watched his mate walk out of his office and into his own office. He waited until Magnus had closed his own door before he closed his door and turned and walked over to his desk and began to go over his reports.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. Life became very hectic and I am having a little difficulty editing the next chapter, that I kind of forgot to post this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. Life became very hectic and I am having a little difficulty editing the next chapter, that I kind of forgot to post this chapter.

Magnus sighed as he sat back in his seat and put his phone back in his pocket. He closed his eyes as he rubbed his knuckles into them. He had just finished a call with a client who wasn’t satisfied that he had to see another warlock for his potion to help balance his emotions of an unstable soulmate bond. He couldn’t help but to think back to his conservation with Alec the other day. About how he had felt growing up feeling lonely and empty.

His own soulmate mark hadn’t appeared until six months before he had meet Alexander and in those six months he felt the loneliest he had ever felt. Magnus was immortal and was used to feeling lonely and losing loved ones, but what he had felt in those six months prior had been nothing compared to that. It was a aching loneliness that bore into his soul. He couldn’t imagine feeling that for years.

He felt along their bond and smiled as he felt his dom contentedness, tinged with mild irritation form doing paper work. He stood up and stretched as he thought about the other Lightwood sibling that was troubling him. He knew he told Alec to let Izzy be, but he couldn’t forget the look on Izzy’s face when she had told them about Meliorn. He could see that she was trying to change. It showed in the way she had started to dress and the way she had started to act and he wanted to make sure that what happened between her and Meliorn wasn’t because of that. He also wanted to make sure she was okay.

He walked out his of his office and went in search of her. He found her in Ops sitting at one of the main computer banks. He frowned as he walked up behind her and saw what she was looking at.

“What are you doing?” he asked as he stepped up beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder causing her to jump. He squeezed her shoulder as he said, “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she smiled up at him. She looked back at the screen as she answered him, “I’m researching the Mortal Instruments. All we’re taught is their history - how Raziel gave them to Jonathan Shadowhunter and their purpose.” she paused in her research as she looked up at him as she explained, “But they are essential weapons. So, I’m searching the Clave records for all the information they have on them. I’ve even contacted the Silent Brothers and the Iron Sisters.”

“That’s a good idea,” he smiled, impressed, “Maybe there might be a way we could use them to try and track…”

“Magnus, what?” she asked as she looked up at him to see why he had trailed off. She frowned to see him staring at something. She turned to see what it was and stood up, shocked and angry, to see Meliorn being escorted into the Institute by two Shadowhunters.

“What is going on here?” Magnus demanded as he turned and walked down the stairs to the trio.

“Meliorn,” she said as she followed Magnus and walked up to the Seelie and wrapped her arms around his heck, “I’m so happy to see you.”

“Don’t,” he said, voice cold as he gently pushed her away from him, “Your fire message told me that you never wanted to see me again,”

“You broke up with him over a fire message,” Magnus muttered shocked.

“My family…” she began to explain, ignoring Magnus.

“Despises Downworlders,” Meliorn shrugged.

“No, that’s not…” she took a deep breath to calm down before she tried again, “That maybe true of my parents, but you know that I don’t feel the same. Thing have just gotten…complicated…I’m sorry,”

“I’m not here to discuss us,” he gently broke in, seeing the genuine remorse and pain in her eyes.

“Why are you here?” Magnus asked.

“The Clave has brought me in to answer some questions.”

“On who’s orders?” Magnus asked one of his escorts.

“Mine, Please step aside,” Lydia said as she entered Ops backed by with another two Shadowhunters. She turned to Meliorn and said, “The Clave has ordered that you are to be placed under arrest.”

“What?” Izzy snapped glaring at her.

“What are the charges?” Magnus demanded as he stepped in front of the Seelie.

“He is being charged for soliciting state secrets from a Shadowhunter on behalf of Valentine Morgenstern,” she nodded at Meliorn and the two guards behind her moved to towards the Seelie.

“Stop!” Magnus ordered as he held up his hands to stall the guards.

“Magnus, please step aside,” Lydia told him as the guards stepped around him and took a hold of the Seelies arms, “This is Clave business, therefore not your concern.”

“I think you’ll find that it is my concern,” he told her as he turned and glared at the guards until the let the other man go. He turned back to Lydia and starred at her coldly and he said, “I don’t see Emmett here, which I can only assume that means he doesn’t know. I am also going to assume that you or the Clave has not informed the Council that you had intentions of questioning, never mind arresting a Downworlder. I also know that I have not been called to be informed, because being the High Warlock I would have been informed immediately of any Downworlder to be brought to the Institute for any reason.”

“I planned to inform the Council once we had the Seelie secured,” Lydia insisted, cheeks red with anger at being questioned.

“That’s not how it is done and you, Ms Branwell, Enclave member, are very well aware of that,” he snapped, voice full of resentment and anger. He took a deep breath to try and calm down. He could feel anger and frustration coming through the bond and he didn’t want whatever was upsetting his husband to effect him. So, with another deep breath he closed off his side of the bond and calmly said, “This is what is going to happen,” he waved a hand at the two Shadowhunters that had brought Meliorn in to the Institute, “These two gentlemen are going to escort Meliorn to my office, where he will wait undisturbed, while I contact the Council. I will report the Clave’s and your violation of the Accords, as well as your obvious dismissal of his right to Council representation.”

He waited to see if she had anything to say, but when she remained silent, glaring at them he nodded to the two Shadowhunters and waited until they had escorted him out of Ops Centre.

“Have you lost your mind?” Izzy snapped as she crossed her arms and glared at Lydia.

“You’re lucky you weren’t arrested with him,” She snapped back at her. She wasn’t used to being questioned, especially from someone she considered a subordinate, “It has come to the Clave’s understanding that your long lasting relationship with the Seelie may have led to the disclosure of State secrets.”

“What! No!” she cried, offended, “I would never betray our people. Meliorn gave me the information we needed…”

“Isabelle, shut up,” Magnus urgently broke in.

“What? Why?” she asked, confused at how urgent he sounded.

He turned to face her, stepping between the two women, as he quietly told her, “You were about to admit that you used a Downworlder to gain information to attack another Downworlder residence. That attack is still being investigated and they could use that information against you. They could say that you meddled in Downworlders affairs that could cause trouble between them, especially given the the rising tension between vampire and werewolves,” he took a deep breath she he looked her in the eye to get her the to understand the seriousness of the situation, “She could use that and have you arrested. I as a Council member, should have you arrested.”

“But it was to save a mundane,” she defended, “The vampires had kidnapped him and we …”

“Should have followed protocol and contacted the Clave and the Council about the abduction,” Magnus interrupted her, getting irritated that she was still not getting it.

“You violated the Accords,” Lydia snapped, she stepped around Magnus to look at her as she stressed, “Yes, it was for an good cause, but you still violated them and violations needs to be addressed whether you like it or not,” she let out a little scoff as she asked, “And do you really expect me to believe that you told him nothing in return for the information?”

“Yes!” Izzy insisted, glaring at the blonde.

“Nobody would blame you,” Lydia said, her stance softening and voice gentler as she tried to encourage her to confide her, “Meliorn and the Seelies have likely been working with Valentine along.”

“And what proof do you have of that?” Magnus demanded as he turned to glare at her.

“Valentine has been murdering Downworlders and draining them of their blood for months now,” Izzy quickly scoffed talking over the other woman, “He killed those Seelie scouts and used their blood…”

“Do you have any proof of that?” She demanded.

“Again, I ask, Do you?” Magnus countered.

“I have orders,” she glared at him, “ I never wanted this. I was, am, just following orders.”

“I don’t believe you!” Izzy gritted.

“Orders that had you violating the Accords,” Magnus said, he had a little smirk as he repeated her, _“Violations that must be addressed’_ , and as soon as I have informed the Council it may lead to you being sanctioned.”

“I was following orders ,” she ordered defensively.

“What is it the older Shadowhunters are still so fond of saying, _‘The Law is the Law’_ ,” he leaned into her warned her, “I would check into who is giving you your orders, if I were you,” he stepped back and tool Izzy by the arm and began to gently lead her away, “Come along, dear. You can fill your brother in while I contact the Council.”

He led her out of Ops Centre and down the corridor to the offices, leaving behind an angry and embarrassed Shadowhunter. As they came closer to Alec’s office they could hear shouting coming from inside. He gently opened his bond with Alec and prodded at it, not surprised to find that Alec had closed his side of the bond, remembering the anger and frustration coming from his dom before closing his side. He could, however, feel anger and irritation coming from Jace.

“What now?” Izzy murmured.

“Let’s find out,” he said and he opened the door and ushered her in before closing it behind him.

He was unsurprised to find Jace stood in front of Alec’s desk glaring at him with his arms crossed. Alec stood in front of his desk with his own arms crossed as he glared right back.

“Come on, Alec.” Jace growled at him, “You…”

“No!” Alec snapped as he talked over his brother, he held up his hand as he warned him, “I am only going to this one more time. We are NOT using the Mortal Cup as bait to lure Valentine.”

“But Alec…”

“Stop, just stop!” Alec huffed, as he closed his eyes and massaged the back of his neck, “It is not happening.” He took a deep breath to calm his anger and he stated, “End of discussion.”

“Alec…”

Alec ignored him as he turned to where Izzy and Magnus stood at the door and asked, “What can I do for you two?”

Jace turned to them and smirked as he saw Izzy and said, “Come on Izzy, tell Alec I’m right about using the Cup to find Valentine.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t,” she said.

She wasn’t sure who was more surprised that she had supported Jace as she knew that both her brothers had assumed she would just take Jace side.

She shot Jace a small shrug as she explained, “Alec is right. It is too dangerous, if Valentine gets the Cup it would be the end of us all, you know that. It’s not worth the risk.”

Magnus held up his hand to stall what ever the blonds response was and stepped towards the desk as he said, “We actually have a more pressing issue we have to deal with,”

“What?” Jace snapped as he turned to glare at him, ignoring the glare Alec shot him.

“She brought in Meliorn and arrested him,” Izzy snapped as she stalked over to them.

“Who?” Alec frowned her.

“Ms Branwell,” Magnus answered as he placed a calming hand on her shoulder, “And she didn’t arrest him, I put a stop to that. She did, however, bring him in and he is sitting in my office. The problem is that it was all done without the Council or myself being informed.”

“Dammit,” he muttered as he rubbed a hand over his face before he looked at him and asked, “Are you going to arrest her?”

“She claims she was working on orders,” he explained, “But again, the problem is that neither she or the Clave informed the Council or I would have been told. So, I’m going to contact the Council fill them in and let them decide what to do?”

“Okay, what happens now?” he asked his sub.

“She is not allowed to talk to him unless I am with him.”

“You’re going to represent him,” he stated, rather than asked.

“Yes,” he said as he stepped around the desk to pick up Alec desk phone, “But first I have to call the Council.”

“Meliorn is here because of me,” Izzy said, the pain clear in her voice.

“This is not your fault,” Alec said as he stepped around his desk and pulled his sister into his arms.

“Alec is right,” Jace said as he turned and to face them, leaning against the desk as he finished, “ It’s no one’s fault, beside this may help us find Valentine somehow.”

“But…”

“Jace has a point.”

The three sibling turned to to look at Magnus in surprise.

He had been listening to them as he talked to the Council and chuckled quietly at the looks on their faces as he put the phone down.

“Trust me, no one is more surprised that those words came out of my mouth than I am, but the Council and I agree that Meliorn may have information we can use to find Valentine.”

“You don’t really think that the Seelies are working with Valentine do you?” Izzy asked as she pulled herself out Alec’s arms.

“Honestly I want to say no, but when it comes to Seelies, you never can really tell,”

A knock at the door interrupted them and Alec turned towards it as he called out, “Come in.”

Emmett entered and closed the door behind him.

He turned to Magnus and said, “I just received a call from the Council. I want you to know that I had no idea what she was up to.”

“I thought so,” Magnus nodded, waving away his concerns, “I’m going in as his council in a minute.”

Emmett nodded at him at him before he turned to Alec and said, “I also wanted to let you know that arrangements have been made for Ms Belcourts transfer to Idris. I thought it would be best if I escort her myself…”

“You don’t trust our people?” Jace scoffed.

“It’s not like I don’t have reason to question your people,” he rebuffed, sending him a scathing look as he went on to explained, “I believe what has just happened with Ms Branwell and Meliorn is ample proof, however before I was rudely interrupted I was about to ask your brother if he could arrange for some of his people to escort Ms Belcourt.”

“Of course,” Alec quickly answered, speaking over his brother, hoping to avoid any arguments, “I’ll call Stephanie and have her arrange it.”

“Thank you,” Emmett nodded at him before he turned to Magnus and asked, “Keep me informed of the Meliorn situation?”

“I will,” he promised as he stepped aside to let Alec pick up the phone.

They waited as Alec spoke to Stephanie and when he hung up he turned to Emmett and said, “She’ll be waiting for you in Ops.”

Emmett thanked them and turned and walked out of the office.

“I should go and see to Meliorn,” Magnus said, with some reluctance. He turned to Alec and prodded at their bond, smiling as he felt Alec re-opening his side. He nodded to the computer screen on his desk and asked, “Will you be watching?”

“If that will be okay?” he asked.

He reached out and entwined their fingers happy that their bond was fully restored. He had hated having to close his side but as he was arguing with Jace he could feel that Magnus was having his own argument and didn’t want his anger and frustration with Jace to influence Magnus anger or vice verse. He knew Magnus had felt the same when he felt his sub close his side if the bond and did the same with his own.

“I’m not sure. As far as I’m concerned, Its not an official investigation, so I don’t see there being much of a problem. We could say that you were watching as part of your investigation into the search of Valentine.”

“Okay,” Alec nodded.

Magnus tilted his head for a kiss and smiled as Alec pressed a kiss onto his temple and squeezed his hand before he turned and walked out of the office, making his way across the hall to his own office. He frowned as he closed the door behind him, seeing Lydia and another Shadowhunter in the room with the Seelie.

“Ms Branwell,” he greeted as he walked over to the couch, were Meliorn sat, and sat down beside him as he asked, “I do hope you haven’t been questioning Meliorn without me.”

“Of course not,” she gritted, with a strain smile, “The Clave have informed me that you have contacted the Council and that you will be acting as his council. I thought it would be best if we waited in here for you.”

Magnus cast a questioning look look at Meliorn, who gave a small nod back at him in conformation.

“Well, I am here now, shall we get started?”

“Yes, thank you,” she gave him a small strained smile. She wasn’t used to feeling like she was being judged or questioned by a Downworlder, it left her feeling unsettled and unsure how to proceed. She took a deep breath and turned to Meliorn and asked, “Meliorn, you where brought here to be questioned about the Seelies working with Valentine…”

“Allegedly!” Magnus broke in.

“Excuse me?!” she asked.

“Allegedly working with Valentine,” Magnus explained, “What proof do you have to make such claims?”

“The Seelies have withdrawn all communication from both the Clave and Council…”

“That is not proof,” Magnus scoffed before he went onto explain, “When in mourning it is Seelie tradition to go into seclusion,” he shrugged as he crossed his leg and settled back onto the couch, “What else have you got that could possibly make you or the Clave believe that they are working with Valentine?”

“The blood,” she answered quickly, “We believe that the Seelies know what Valentine is doing with the Downworlder blood.”

Magnus looked to Meliorn who offered a bland smile s he explained, “The Scouts, that we sent on request of the Clave, were killed before they could report anything.”

“And you expect us to believe that,” she scoffed.

“Seelies can not lie,” he simply stated.

“But they can bend and twist the facts to suit their needs,”

“As do the Clave,” Magnus said becoming a little impatient, “Do you have anything else?”

“No,” she reluctantly admitted. She took another calming breath before she asked, “But I do have some other questions that I would like to ask?”

“Regarding the previous allegations?” Magnus asked.

“Not as such, but I do believe could be in connection,” she explained.

Magnus turned to Meliorn and raised a questioning eyebrow, when he nodded his acceptance she turned back to her and said, “Ask away.”

“You have been in a relationship with Isabelle Lightwood…”

“What does Isabelle and Meliorn private relationship have to do with this?” Magnus demanded.

“Isabelle Lightwood is the daughter of Maryse and Robert Lightwood, known former Circle members. We are simply trying to determine her exact nature of her relationship with Meliorn and if at any point during this relationship she has shared state secret with him that could have been leaked to Valentine.”

“Okay, first, as previously stated Seelies can not lie,” Magnus stated as he looked her in the eye, “Second, it is common knowledge that the Lightwood siblings have little to no contact with their parents. They have been all but excommunicated, so if your implying that Ms Lightwood is working for Valentine through her connections with her parents, it makes no sense, and if you are implying that, I would be very careful with your accusations and again I would be asking what proof you have for such allegations,” he frowned as he sat forward as he asked, “And if you are making those allegations simply due to the relationship Ms Lightwood and Meliorn, then I would have to ask who it was exactly that gave your orders?”

“I…I don’t understand…what does that have to do with this?” she asked, confused by the question.

“I just find it rather curious that the same Seelie that you were ordered to arrest was the same Seelie that the ‘Clave’ asked us to send to question about the Seelie communication withdrawal,” he leaned forward and lowered his voice a little as he said, “To me, it almost appears as if someone is attempting to cover something up. Of course, I’m not accusing anybody of anything as I have no real proof.”

He sat back in his seat and cleared his throat and said, “But anyway, do you have anything else?”

“No,” she gritted her teeth, grudgingly accepting that she had lost.

“Then I do believe that Meliorn is free to go,” he said as he stood up. He waited until Lydia and Meliorn stood up, he placed a hand on Meliorn’s arm stalling him, “I’ll show Meliorn out.”

“Of course,” she said with a strained smile, understanding that she had just been dismissed.

She nodded to the other Shadowhunter and they both turned to leave the office.  
Magnus waited until the door closed behind them before he turned to switch and asked, “I don’t suppose you mind telling me if you are loyal to Valentine?”

“My loyalties are with my Queen,” he smiled serenely at him.

“And what of your Queens loyalties?” he asked, hopeful.

“Are my Queens,” he shrugged, same smile on his face.

“Of course,” he sighed, giving up trying to get a straight answer from him, “Come along, I’ll show you out.”

They stepped out of the office to find Izzy arguing with Lydia, the two brothers standing in the door way to Alec’s office.

“I told you, I was following orders!,” Lydia snapped, getting tired of people questioning her, “I know…”

“Enough!” Alec snapped when he spotted the two Downworlders. He turned to his sister and said, softly, “Izzy, enough, Magnus took care of it.”

“Fine!” she gritted as she continued to glare at the other woman, before she took a deep breath and turned to Meliorn and with a slightly pleading smile she asked, “Let me walk you out,”

Meliorn nodded and held out his arm to her and as she slipped her arm through his they walked down the corridor talking quietly to each other.

Alec turned to Lydia and asked, “Is there anything else?”

“No!” she said as she stalked past them and into her office and slammed the door shut behind her.

Alec waited for a few minutes before he took a deep breath and turned to Magnus and asked, “Do you really think it was them that gave her the order?”

“Who?” Jace asked confused at what they were talking about.

“I’m not sure,” he said as they both ignored Jace. He leaned against the doorway as he said, “I don’t see the order coming directly from the Clave, especially without informing the Council. It would have caused too much trouble. Whether the order came from your parents, that’s only something they can tell us. Nobody on the Council has contacted me regarding the Clave’s interaction with the Seelies,” he frowned as he silently thought about how the Council had not been in touch or seemed to be dodging his calls, he took a deep breath as he as he pushed away the worrying thoughts as he turned back to Alec and finished, “I honestly can’t tell you what is going on there.”

Alec frowned at Magnus as he felt his subs worry and concern through the bond, he didn’t know what had brought on these feeling and right now they didn’t have the time to find out, but he silently promised that he would soon.

“What about the Seelies,” he asked, going back to the original conservation, “Are they siding with Valentine.”

“I’m not sure,” Magnus side as he straightened up and crossed the hall, past Alec into his office as he said, “I don’t completely trust the Seelies. This Seelie Queen is completely withdrawn from our world. She never interacts with other Downworlders, other than her Seelies.”

“So, we really don’t know which side they are on?” Jace asked as he and Alec stepped into the office and closed the door behind them.

“Yes, we do.” Alec shrugged as he turned to leaned against his desk,” They’re on their own side and whoever seems to be winning.”

Jace jumped as someone knocked on the door. He grumbled as he ignoring the smirk the other two sent him as he turned and opened the door, letting Hodge step in.

“Hodge, what can I d for you?” Alec asked as he stepped into the office.

“I was wondering if you had any idea where Clary was. She was supposed to meet me in the training room about 30 minutes ago.”

Alec just turned to Jace and silently asked him her whereabouts.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “I’ve been here with you.”

“Even I can feel that you are lying,” Magnus told him.

“Where is she?” Alec sighed, beginning to grow frustrated again.

“She’s trying to talk to the mundane,” Jace huffed, crossing his arms as he begrudgingly told them, “She snuck out around lunch to go and see Luke. She’s hoping that he can help her get into the Hotel to see Simon.”

“Well, that’s not going to cause any trouble,” Magnus muttered, sarcastically.

“Call her and get her back here, now!” Alec ordered, ignoring his submissives sarcastic mumblings. He stared at his brother until he took out his phone and called Clary before he turned to Hodge and said, “I’m sorry your morning was wasted. I promise that I will deliver her to you myself tomorrow morning.”

“It’s fine,” Hodge smiled at him. He backed out of the office as he said, “I’ll let Matilda know that her class has been cancelled too,”

“Thank you,” Alec nodded at the other man as he closed the door behind him.

He watched his brother as he talked on the phone and as soon as he hung up he asked, “Well?”

“She’ll be here.” he shrugged as he put his phone back in his pocket.

“Soon?”

“Come on Alec,” he cried, “She just found out her best friend had been turned into a vampire last night, she just wants to make sure he’s alright.”

“He not alright,” Magnus spoke before Alec, and went on to explain, “His life as he knew it, is over. He can’t see his family, can never go out in the sunlight, enjoy the food or drinks he once enjoyed. He is not okay…”

“Then Clary can help him through it,” Jace broke in, “She is his closest friend. She can help him adjust, help him understand his knew life.”

“Accept she can’t, because she does not know what it is like to be a vampire or a Downworlder,” Magnus snapped and with a roll of his eyes as he finished, “Beside I don’t think he’ll want to see her right now.”

“Why?” he asked, confused.

“Well, it might have something to do with the fact that it was her, and your, reckless behaviour that got him kidnapped in the first place, not to mention that she refused all of his, and Raphael’s, calls when he was panicking and beginning his transformation.”

“That wasn’t…she needed answers and how was she to know what was happening to him?” he defended her.

“She could have answered one of his many calls,” he said, as he explained, “She, we, could have talked to him about what happened to him,” he said admitting that he was a fault too for not asking him what happened to him at the hands of Camilla, especially since he knew the type of person she had turned into.

“Not you, you were injured, but we should have talked to him,” Alec defended his submissive. He turned to his brother as he said, “Besides, if you had waited a few more minutes you would have had a full escort to the City of Bones.”

“What?”

“The Clave had agreed that the next step would be to take her to the City of Bones, and because we had proof that the Circle was after her, I was going to arrange for some more of our people to come with us.”

“If we were given permission to go to the City, why are you so upset about it.”

“Because, once again, due to your rash and reckless behaviour Simon was kidnapped and turned into a vampire, oh and I was almost killed, Camille is…”

“Stop!” Alec said, he flinched as he couldn’t hide his pain as he remembered the feeling of him soulmate being ripped away from him. He stepped between the them turning to Jace as he said, “Leave, I want you to go out and bring Clary back,” he held up is hand to stall his brothers protest, “I’m serious, Jace. If she isn’t back within the next hour, I am going to send a squad of Shadowhunters after her and drag her back here.”

“Fine,” Jace spat as he glared at them before he stormed out, door slamming shut behind him.

“I’m sorry,” Magnus whispered as he stepped closer, pressing his chest to his back, “I didn’t mean to snap, I just…he just…”

“Hey, hey,” he said as he turned and cupped his face as he reassured him, “It’s okay, baby, I understand. You just said what I was going to say. Maybe, whatever the Council decides to do will finally make him learn.”

“Maybe,” he hummed as he reached up and pressed a kiss to his doms lips. He stepped back and let out a disappointed sigh as he said, “I have to go and call some clients, rearrange some more appointments.”

“Yeah, I should really go over those reports,” he said as he pulled him in close and pressed a kiss to his forehead. He pulled back and said, “Call me as soon as you hear anything from the Council.”

Magnus nodded and with one last kiss he stepped back and turned walked out of his office and into his own.

 

****


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a little longer to post because there was supposed to be a chapter before this one, but I didn't like it. It was Clary's POV from the last two chapters, but I wasn't happy and the only interesting thing was that I introduced Maia, but she's in this one briefly and decided to post this and if I finish it I might post it later as a one shot.

Magnus let out a frustrated groan and threw his phone on to his desk as he sat back in his seat. He had been trying to get in contact with the Council for the past two days, but every time he tried to reach out to them he had been ignored or he had been quickly cut off. He was becoming increasingly concerned with their behaviour, but on top of that he was also growing more worried about the lack of response from Ragnor, even Catarina was having no luck reaching the other warlock.

He jumped slightly as his phone went of and he picked it up and answered it quickly as he saw that it was from a Council member.

“Cassius,” he greeted.

“Magnus,” he greeted him back, “I am calling with a quick update.”

“Good, I’ve been trying to contact the Council myself for an update,” Magnus said, his concern growing as he could hear something in the other man’s voice.

“Yes, Magnus,” Cassius sighed, his reluctance clear in his voice, “I’m afraid that I have to tell you some bad news. The Council it…we’ve been discussing your involvement and we’ve come to the decision that…”

“To remove me from my seat on the Council,” he finished for him, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

“Not quite,” he quickly reassured him hearing the bitterness, “We have decided that it would be best if you were to take a _temporary_ leave of absence while everything is happening,” he paused briefly to see if Magnus had anything to added before he finished, “The Council wants to keep all investigations as clean as possible, some are worried that with your involvement with the Institute it could seem…”

“As favouritism or that I am trying to influence the investigation, I understand,” he again finished for the other man.

“I hope you know that I fought against your removal,” he tried to assure him, “Many of us tried to fight it but…”

“Its fine, Cassius,” he promised, as he tried to see the bright side of it, “Besides, with searching for Valentine and trying to stop another war from breaking out, I might be a little busy.”

“And from what I hear, wrangling a few stubborn Shadowhunters,” Cassius laughed.

“Yes, that too.” he groaned.

“Goodbye, Magnus,” He laughed as he hung up.

Magnus hung up and tossed it on to his desk and leaned back in his seat as he tried to process what he had been told. He loved being on the Council, ensuring that Downworlders, his people, where treated fairly and equally. It hurt to know that he had been temporarily taken from his position on the Council, but he could understand. He knew that the investigation into the Institute, Alec and himself had to be clean if they wanted to stay in charge of the Institute and the search of Valentine.

He jumped at the sound of his phone again, vibrating across his desk. He reached over and picked it up, frowning as he saw who was calling.

“Lucian?” he answered.

“Magnus,” Luke greeted, voice a little harried and rushed as he said, “I …we have a bit of a situation down here at the Jade Wolf.”

“What now?” he groaned as he sat up.

“We were attacked by a Forsaken,” he explained, laughing a little at the whine he could here in the other man’s voice, “I was hoping that you and Alec could, or send some one, to come and have a look?”

“You have the Forsaken there?” he asked as he stood up and made his way out of his office and across to Alec’s. He knocked and waited for an answer as he listened to Luke explain.

“Yeah, it’s dead, but the reason I’m asking for you to come and have look at it, is because I think there is something off about the Forsaken, something strange.”

“Send me everything you have. I’ll talk to Alec and get back to you shortly,” he said, as he began to walk to Ops after not getting any answer from Alec’s office.

“Thanks Magnus,” Luke said before he hung up.

As he walked into Ops he could feel his phone vibrate as Luke sent him pictures of the Forsaken and the damage done to the Jade Wolf. He looked up from his phone and looked around the room in search of Alec. He spotted him at the back of the room, stood with Izzy, Lydia and Maryse as they talked quietly, Izzy gesturing to the screen.

“Alexander, I have something you need to see?” he said as he walked over to the main computer banks and began to upload the images that Luke sent him.

“What?” Alec asked as he joined him, his small group following him.

“The Jade Wolf was attacked by a Forsaken,” he explained as he brought up the picture of the Forsaken body.

“The Jade Wolf is a werewolf headquarters,” Maryse said as she pointed to the pictures and asked, “Where did you…”

“Where did you get these?” Lydia asked talking over the other woman, ignoring the glare Maryse shot her.

“Lucian called me,” he said as he stepped aside to allow Alec to step closer to the screen.

“Why would he call you?” she asked as they watched Alec swipe through the photos.

“Because, as I have already told you, I am the High Warlock and I represent all the Downworlders in New York on the Council,” he paused as he added with a small frown as he added, “Or I did.”

“What do you mean, did?” Alec turned to him as he asked, feeling his subs sadness and concern pulsing through their bond.

“I have been temporarily removed from my seat on the Council,” he explained unable to keep the pain from his voice.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he reached out and took his hand.

“I’m…I’ll be okay,” he assured his husband as he gave his hand a quick squeeze as he added, “As I said, it’s only temporary. I’ll be back on the Council as soon as we and the Institute are cleared of any wrong doing.”

“If you are cleared,” Lydia said.

“Which, of course, we will be,” he promised her before he looked back to Alec and pointed to the screen and said “Luke has asked if we could send someone to help and half a look at the body.”

“I can go,” Alec nodded, “It could be related to…”

“Valentine,” Lydia finished as she stepped around Izzy closer to the screen and studied the photo. She nodded and turned back to Alec and said, “I’ll come with you. I want to see the body for myself.”

Without waiting for a response she turned and began to walk away on;y to stop as Magnus spoke up.

“I would suggest also taking Isabelle or myself,”

“Why?” she asked as she turned to him.

“Lucian said that he thought that there something different, strange, about this Forsaken,” he said and with a wave to himself and Izzy he finished, “Isabelle and I are the Institute’s experts on the Forsaken, it would make sense to take one of us along if we are going to study a Forsaken body.”

“Of course,” she nodded, a dark blush across her checks, “You’re right.”

“You should take Magnus,” Izzy smiled at him as she added, “We got some new lab equipment and I promised Max that I would show him how some of it works. While I’m doing that I’ll get the lab ready for you to bring the body back.”

Magnus laughed at the look on Izzy face and nodded at her silent demand that he bring back the body for her to study with him.

Alec turned to Lydia and said, “Give us five minutes and we’ll meet you back here.”

She nodded and turned and walked out of Ops.

He turned back to Magnus and cupped his check ans asked, “Are you sure you’re really okay about losing your seat?”

“Yes,” he promised as he pressed a kiss into his palm. They ignored the huff of disgust Maryse let out before she stormed off. He took Alec’s hand and linked there fingers as he said, “I promise, it’s okay. I’ll be back in my seat in no time.”

“Magnus?” Izzy cleared her throat and and waited until he had turned to face her before she asked, “I…I’m sorry if…if this is the result of anything…anything that I …”

“It’s okay,” he smiled as he reached out to squeeze her shoulder.

“No, no it’s not.” she said as she pulled away from him and crossed her arms defensively as she said, “We…I never thought that I…that my actions could lead to so much trouble… I…”

“Izzy, it’s okay,” Alec said as she pulled her into his arms as he admitted, “It isn’t all your fault. I should have said something sooner, shouldn’t have let it go on this long. Instead, I was thinking I was protecting everyone.”

“Besides, you are doing something about now,” Magnus said as he reached out to run a hand down her back, comforting her, “Don’t think that we haven’t noticed that you’ve been changing.”

“But is it enough?” she asked, voice muffled by Alec’s chest.

“What?” Alec asked, pulling her back a little.

“Is it enough or is it too late, to show the Clave and Council that I’ve… I mean Magnus has already lost his seat…”

“ _Temporarily_ ,” he insisted again, “It’s just while the investigations continue and those are mostly finished, you know that. The only thing that is still getting investigated is the attack against the hotel, and the worst that we will receive is a possible sanction. Once that’s over I’ll be back on the Council.”

He wasn’t so sure that that was true any more. He was starting to question why the Council had made the decision now, after most of the investigations into the Institute had come to an end. He couldn’t help worry that there was something else happening, that the Council was trying to keep him in the dark about something.

“Yeah, but none of this would be happening if it wasn’t for Jace and me,” she said as she stepped out of her brothers arms to look up at him.

“That is true,”Alec said as he took her hand and gave it a quick squeeze as he said, “But like Magnus said, you are trying to change, you are trying to do the right think and Magnus and I both see it and so will the Clave and Council.”

“Right,” smiled at him as she brushed some stray hair away from her face. She pointed a finger to Magnus and said, “I expect you to bring that body back soon. You’re not the only one getting to play with it.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” he laugh before he turned to Alec and asked, “Ready?”

“I’m just gonna grab my jacket and phone from my office,” he said as he pressed a kiss to his temple before he left them.

“Magnus…”

“He means it,” he insisted, interrupting her. He took both her hands in his and looked her in the eye as he told her, “He knows that he’s partly responsible, for not telling you both how much your actions were affecting him, who far he was going to protect you both and keep you guys out of trouble, but he knows that you understand now and that you accept where you went wrong and are trying to make up for it.”

“You know, he snapped at me a few nights ago,” she laughed a little as she remembered that night Lydia and Emmett had arrived before she said, “I couldn’t understand why he was so mad and wasn’t just accepting my apology, like he normally would. I got angry and snapped and he just snapped back,” she smiled at him sadly as she finished, “That night, I realized that it was the first time we had really talked, honestly since his parabatai ceremony.”

“He told me the same thing,” he smiled at her as he added, “I think he misses you.”

“I miss him too,” she said as she squeezed his hand before letting him go. She squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye as she said, “I’m gonna do better, be a better sister, Shadowhunter.”

“You already are,” he promised her.

She smiled and reached up and pressed a kiss to his check before she turned and left making her way to the lads.

“Magnus?”

He turned to find Lydia stood at the entrance of the Ops.

“Ms Branwell,” he greeted as he joined her at the entrance.

“Lydia, please,” she insisted with a small pleasant smile, “I wish to apologise for the way the Meliorn incident was handled. You were correct, the incident was mishandled. I can only assure you that I was under impression that the Clave was going to inform the Council.”

“Apology accepted,” He nodded as he acknowledged, “Misunderstandings do happen.”

“I was hoping that we could talk,” she said as she gestured to a small office and took a step towards it.

“About?” he asked, as he remained where he was.

“I believe that you are aware of the arrangements that our parents…”

“Ms Branwell, I believe that this is a conversation that should be put on hold until my husband returns,” Magnus insisted as he took a small step back.

“I don’t think…”

“Is everything okay?” Alec asked as he straightened his jacket and patting his pocket for his phone, he stepped up behind Magnus, frowning as he noticed his sub slight tension.

“Everything is fine,” she smiled as she nodded at him as she stepped back into the hall, “Shall we go?”

Alec nodded and gestured for her to go ahead while he held Magnus back. He waited until she was a few feet ahead of them before he turned back to Magnus, silently asking him what had happened.

“I think she wanted to talk about the marriage proposal, but I insisted that we wait for you,” he explained.

“I’ll talk to her later, after we get back from the Jade Wolf,” he said as he placed a hand on the base of his subs back and urged him forward, “Make sure she understands that it’s never going to happen and not to bring it up again,”

Magnus nodded and followed his dom as they caught up to Lydia, who was quietly waiting for them at the end of the hall. Magnus stepped forward and opened the portal and the three stepped through, stepping out in the back alley of the Jade Wolf.

Lydia began to walk ahead of them but stopped suddenly and squared her shoulders and turned back to face them. She cleared her throat and looked at them head on as she said, “Gentlemen, I would like to take a few moments to discuss…”

“Stop!” Alec snapped as he held up his hand, stopping her in her tracks. He glared at her as he said, “This is highly unprofessional. I will be contacting the Clave to say how impressed we are at your professional behaviour.”

He ignored her spluttering as he took Magnus arm and gently led him out of the alley and into the Jade Wolf.

“Alec, Magnus,” Luke greeted them as them as soon they entered.

“Luke, Maia” Alec nodded to the other man and the woman stood beside him as Magnus shot them a smile, “We wish we were here on better circumstances.”

“Me too,” Luke smiled at them, before looking over at the door as Lydia entered, “Ms Branwell.”

“Mr Greymark,” she nodded back.

“That’s detective Garroway,” Magnus informed her and with a wave to the young lady stood beside him he said, “And this is Ms Maia Roberts,”

“Of course, sorry, Detective Garroway, Ms Roberts,” Lydia said, back straight and face flushed at the slight reprimand. She looked back to Luke and said, “Detective Garroway, you have a Forsaken body for us to inspect?”

“Yes,” he said as he turned and led them to the back of the restaurant where the decomposing body lay.

Alec stood back with Luke and Maia as Lydia and Magnus knelt beside the body and began to examine the Forsaken.

“It’s got some characteristics of a Forsaken,” Lydia said.

“Could you hand me…” Magnus looked up to Alec and smiled as he found his dom already holding out a pair of chopsticks, “Thank you.”

“It was human,” she said.

Magnus barely hid an eye roll and bit back a smirk at Maia’s scoff at the obvious statement.

He used the chopsticks to push aside the shirt, “It was ruined,” he looked up at Luke and asked, “What did you mean when you said that it was different?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged as he explained, “It was more focused, more determined.”

“It attacked like it had a plan.” Maia said as she rubbed his bandaged wrist.

“Plus, a normal Forsaken wouldn’t have been so hard to kill. It took five wolves to take that thing down. Never seen anything like it.” Luke added.

He nodded his thanks at them before he looked back down to the body and held out his hand over it, letting his magic flow throw the rotten body. When he couldn’t detect any magic he with drew his own and looked back up at them and said,

“I can’t detect any signs of magic or any immediate reason as to why this one acted any different from other Forsakens, but we’ll take the body back to the Institute to do a full autopsy.”

“Do you think that is wise?” Lydia asked as she stood up.

“I don’t understand?” he frowned as he reached out for Alec’s waiting hand and stood up.

“Will the Institute be secure to bring that thing back?” she asked with a wave of her hand at the corpse.

“I don’t know if I should be insulted that you are questioning my wards,” Magnus stated, small concern frown on his face.

“That wasn’t …it wasn’t my intention…” she stuttered, “I just meant…”

“Besides the Institute being a highly secured building,” Alec broke in, talking over her, “It also has, as stated previously, two of the best experts on Forsaken, not to mention that the Institute has the best resources needed to find out what that thing was.”

“Isabelle is also an expert in forensic science,” Magnus added, “Highly trained in all of the Shadow World, trained under the best teacher, if I do say so myself.”

Alec smiled at his mates bragging, holding back a laugh as Maia seemed to choke on her own at Magnus behaviour. He turned to Lydia and raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

“Fine, you’ve convinced me,” she agreed reluctantly.

“You won’t get any arguments from me,” Luke said as he looked at Magnus and asked, “I only ask that you keep me informed of what you find.”

“Of course,” Magnus agreed as he spoke over a protesting Lydia. He nodded at Maia’s injured wrist and offered, “Do you or any of the others that got injured need of some magical healing?”

“I’m okay,” she said as she turned slightly and nodded to one of the booths in the where two men sat slumped over the table and said, “But Taito and Alaric took some hard hits.”

“Lead the way,” Magnus said and followed the young woman to the booth.

“Listen, you should know that Clary came to see me about Simon,” Luke said, quietly as followed the two of them and watched as Magnus began to inspect their wounds, “She told me what happened and I wanted to thank you for helping him.”

“I wasn’t going to leave him suffering,” he told the other man as he turned to Alaric and began to heal his broken leg, “You know he became a fledging and is under the Dumort Clan’s protection.”

“I know, she told me, it was the reason I told her no when she asked me to try and get her into see him,” he explained, a look of guilt and concern as he finished, “I tried to explain that it would have caused too much trouble for my pack to get involved in vampire politics, but she just got angry and stormed out of here. I was planning to go after her but…” he trailed off as he waved his hand at the ransacked restaurant.

“I know, we sent Jace after to bring her back to the Institute, hopefully she hasn’t caused too much trouble,” Magnus said.

“I’ll try to talk to her again,” Luke promised.

Magnus nodded to him and went back to healing the werewolves.

Alec had watched Magnus walk away with Luke, before he knelt beside the body and began to inspect the Forsaken himself.

“Do you normally involve Downworlders into your investigations?” Lydia asked, arms crossed as she watched him inspect the blade that lay beside the body.

“You don’t leave Idris much do you?” he snorted as he looked up at her.

“What does that have to do with anything?” she deflected.

“If you did, you would realise that out here in the real world, Downworlders and Shadowhunters work together. We have a good working relationship with them, or at least we did,” he explained, putting the blade back on the ground.

“If that was a remark about how I handled the Meliorn/Seelie situation, I have already apologised to Magnus,” she defended.

“It wasn’t just Magnus you should have apologised to, and from what I understand, if it wasn’t for Emmett raining in your questioning the Institute would be inundated with complaints regarding your manner and questioning,” he said, ignoring her stuttering he turned to greet Luke as the man rejoined them and asked, “Do you think Valentine was behind this?”

“No question,” he scoffed as he looked around at the mess, “It’s definitely his work.”

“What do you think he’s after?”

“Honestly, me!”

“You think Valentine s going after ex-Circle members?” Lydia asked.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged as he tried to think how his old friend mind worked, “I mean it could be personal, I was his parabatai and he has to know that I was involved with helping to hide Jocelyn. Or it could be that he’s just going after his old crew, I’m sure Valentine has a grudge against anyone that turned against him,”

“If that is the case then we should put up some extra strength wards on the Institute,” Magnus said as he joined them.

“For Hodge,” Lydia nodded, as she bit her lip and thought over everything that Luke had just said.

“And my parents,” Alec said, at her shocked look he shrugged, “I might not like my parent, but I’m not gonna stand by and let them be killed, especially if they have Max.”

“Right, of course,” she nodded at him, a little flustered as she turned to ask Luke some questions about the attack.

She wasn’t sure what to think. Alec was right that this was her first big mission out of Idris. She hadn’t interacted much with Downworlders or the Council, and she knew that she was influenced a lot by some of the older Clave members and Shadowhunters, people who still talked about how the Clave was better before it bent to the wishes of the Downworlder, believed it was weaker because of it. She was also aware that she was only given this mission as a favour for her parents so that she could meet Alec and begin their wedding preparations, but she had honestly thought that she was doing a god job, that she was treating the Downworlders equally and respectfully.

It annoyed her, constantly being questioned and reprimanded, not to mention her parents constant pressure to get Alec to agree to the marriage, something she didn’t understand why he was so against. She had tried to explain that it wouldn’t be a real marriage, but neither Alec or Magnus would listen, and she knew if she pushed any further that Alec would follow throw with his threat of telling the Clave, which was not something she could afford to happen to her, not after the Meliorn incident. As she turned to watch the two men, it made her wonder what sort of deal their parents had made for her parents to keep pushing her to get Alec to agree to the arrangement.

“You okay,” Magnus asked as he stepped up beside his dom.

“I’m fine,” he assured him as he nodded to the body and asked, “Is it secure to take through a portal?”

“I’ll secure it in a stasis field, that will keep it safe and uncontaminated through the portal,”

“Then we should head back now,” Lydia said as she smiled at Luke and said, “I believe that I have everything that we need from Detective Garroway.”

“Luke, do you need anything more from us?” Alec asked.

“No, I believe we’re good, but thanks for coming so quickly,” he nodded at them.

“Our pleasure,” Magnus smiled at him as he waved a hand over the body, encasing it in a blue glowing stasis field. He turned to Alec and said, “I’m going to open a portal directly into the lab, could you text Izzy to let her know and ensure that Max isn’t in the lab any more.”

Alec nodded and pulled out his phone and quickly text her as Magnus opened up the portal. He turned to the body and levitated it and waited for Alec conformation. He nodded to Maia and Luke before he walked the body throw the portal, Alec and Lydia following behind him. Lydia and Alec stood back as they watched Magnus and Izzy laid the body on the table and quietly discussed how they would start.

“Why would you want to shield Max from seeing the body?” She asked as she turned slightly towards him.

“What?”

“You texted your sister to make sure your brother wasn’t in the lab,” she explained, “He’s going to the Academy soon, so why would you want to protect him from seeing this?”

“It’s not him we are trying to protect,” Magnus said with a light chuckle as he went on to explain, “It’s to protect us from his persistent questions as we try to work.”

At Lydia’s confused look Izzy proudly explained, “Max isn’t just becoming a Shadowhunter, but he’s also becoming a budding scientist.”

And she was proud, growing up she had always been close to Alec, and then Jace had come along and the two of them had spent all their time together training to become parabatai, she hadn’t felt left out but she did feel as if she was missing her bond with her brother. It was why she had been so shocked to learn that Alec had wanted her to be his parabatai first. She had, along with Jace, assumed that he and Jace would be parabatai. When Max was born she was all excited, as she thought she could have that same relationship with Max as she had had with Alec, but he had been born while she was busy with her training and Maryse had been extra strict with him due to his submissive dynamic, and he idolized Alec, following him around and copying his every move and when Magnus became a part of their family, they had formed their own little bond and she had felt a little left out. So she had been excited when Max had began to show an interest in science, it was something that the two of them could spend time with each other and bond over.

“If he saw the body, we would be here all day answering his questions and not get a chance to work on the body,” she explained as she walked over to a bench and picked up two lab coats and face mask.

“Now, if you would excuse us, Izzy and I would like to get to work,” Magnus said as he accepted the lab coat and mask, putting each on but leaving the shield up.

Alec laughed at his submissives clear dismissal as they again began to discuss what they want to first.

“I’ll leave you to your investigation,” he smiled as he pressed a kiss to his check.

“You will be sure to check that no magic was used to make this?” Lydia asked.

Izzy looked up and scoffed, “It’s almost as if you think we don’t know how to do our job.”

“No, of course I do,” she quickly defended, eyes darting between them to Alec before settling back on Izzy and Magnus, “I meant no offence. I have nothing but respect for both your talents and abilities,” she paused as she smiled at Magnus and gushed, “When I learned that I was coming to this Institute, I was excited as I couldn’t wait to meet you. As I’ve said, your friendship with my great ancestor, Henry Branwell, is fondly remembered. My great great uncle still tells stories of how the two of you worked together to create the portal,”

“Yes, Henry was one of the rare few Shadowhunters of that time that didn’t look at Downworlders as filth,” Magnus said, a small nostalgic smile on his face.

“Yes, the Branwell’s have always had a good relationship with the Down world, as well as the Lightwoods,” she said as she turned to Alec and decided to try on more time and added, “They have both been a powerful force and the Shadow world and I think that we can strengthen that alliance with a political marriage.”

“Are you serious,” Alec snapped, anger and frustration bleeding through his voice as he glared at her, “After everything I have said and you still have the nerve to bring this up. This is your last warning. If you attempt in any way to broach this subject again, I will report you to the Clave for your complete unprofessional behaviour, do I make my self clear.”

“Yes,” she mumbled face bright red with embarrassment as she walked out of the lab.

“Are you okay?” Magnus asked as he took of his mask, handing it to Izzy as he walked around the table to stand in front of his dom.

Alec took a deep calming breath before he reached out and grasped his subs hands and gave a quick squeeze as he smiled at him and said, “I’m fine, or I will be. I just can’t believe that she would bring it up again after what I said at the Jade Wolf.”

“It does make you wonder what your parents promised her or her parents?” Magnus said.

“What do you mean?” Izzy asked.

“Well, she just called it an alliance through a political marriage between both your families,” He shrugged as he went on to explain, “The only problem with that, is that your parents no longer have the political sway that they once had within the Clave, and especially not within the Council. So, for the Branwells to enter into a political marriage they had to have offered something more substantial than political influence,”

“Like what?” she asked, biting her lip as she watched her brothers, worried.

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” Alec said as gently pulled Magnus closer and pressed a kiss to his forehead before he said, “There isn’t going to be a a marriage, so it’s not important,” he pulled his sub in close again and pressed a kiss to his check before he let him go and took a step back and he said, “I’m gonna go and update both the Clave and the Council on the Forsaken attack at the Jade Wolf, so I’ll leave your guys to your fun,”

“Thank you,” Magnus smiled at him as he promised, “We’ll get back to you with a preliminary report soon,”

Alec nodded at them before he turned and walked out of the lab.


End file.
